A Step Ahead of Fate
by Cielita
Summary: The Saga continues! Children, changes and villains abound as the Titans discover that we are all blessed with two families: the family we are born with and the family we choose. New appearances include Arella, Trigon, Bumblebee, Mas y Menos, and more. R
1. Tell Me I'm Not Dreaming

"_**A Step Ahead of Fate" **_

_**Section VIII in the book "Life Has a Rhythm of its Own" **_

_Summary: Children, changes and villains abound as the Titans discover that we are all blessed with two families: the family we are born with and the family we choose. New appearances include Arella, Trigon, Bumblebee, Mas y Menos, and more. Rated R for violence and ahem adult content. _

**_Chapter 1: Tell Me I'm Not Dreaming _**

Raven stretched and took a deep breath before opening her eyes. She recalled events that she was certain happened the previous night, but for some reason, part of her doubted their reality. She decided quietly that she would count to ten slowly before rolling over to face the middle of the bed. Raven calmly, evenly counted and then rolled over in place. Her heart sank—the calm, peacefully sleeping expression of her husband met her eyes but nothing else. Raven inwardly chided herself for getting her hopes up. She should have known it was too good to be true.

"I was dreaming…" Raven muttered softly, tears blurring her vision. "I should have known it couldn't be true." Beast Boy opened his eyes, scooted a little closer and tenderly kissed her good morning. A tear squeezed out of the corner of Raven's eye and rolled down her face and Beast Boy noticed.

"What's wrong?" he whispered in concern.

"I had the most unbelievable dream," Raven mumbled. Beast Boy shook his head.

"It wasn't a dream, Raven," he replied.

"But, where are the kids? I remember taking them to bed with us!" Raven whimpered.

"A couple hours ago, Starfire and I took them back to their own room. I thought maybe you and I could use some time alone," Beast Boy said, running a hand through Raven's hair.

"But…Toby's bed…" Raven began. They had removed all of Toby's things from the room several weeks after his death.

"I don't think the rest of the team slept. They spent all night bringing his stuff back up out of the basement while we were asleep," Beast Boy replied.

"They did all that? Last night?" Raven murmured.

"And they all managed to get up this morning, yet," Beast Boy chuckled.

"I have to get up," Raven gasped. "The kids need baths, there are patrols to do, and oh, Azar, none of Toby's clothes will fit him anymore and…." Raven rambled. Beast Boy put a stop to this with another warm, inviting kiss.

"By the time you and I get up today, the others will have all that sorted out," Beast Boy explained.

"We can't just expect the rest of the team to take care of our kids all day!" Raven exclaimed.

"Honey, when was the last time we made love?" Beast Boy interjected, successfully changing the subject. Raven stopped. She couldn't remember. She looked back at Beast Boy with a look of shock in her dark blue eyes.

"Oh, Gar!" she cried, wrapping her arms around him. "I've thrown myself into everything but my own marriage! Honey, I'm so sorry!" Beast Boy hugged her tight and then grinned.

"I know of more than one way you could make it up to me," Beast Boy murmured suggestively. "All of the kids are out with the girls, and the guys are covering all the patrol routes. Honey, we're alone. The Tower is ours." Raven paused to consider this. When was the last time she and Beast Boy were truly alone?

Raven smiled softly and stroked her husband's face. "How can you still love me after everything I've put you through?" she asked in wonder. Beast Boy smiled and smoothed his hand over her hip and thigh as he replied, "Because you're my balance, Raven. You keep me from going overboard. You've tolerated my bad jokes, my vegetarian diet and my mood swings. You've given me children. You make my heart beat faster when you smile. You make me so happy, Raven. Don't you get it? Raven, you're the better part of me—you complete me."

Raven couldn't find words to express what she was feeling at this confession of enduring love, so she simply took his face in her hands and passionately kissed him. Beast Boy moaned softly as Raven pressed herself closer to him, making his spine tingle with anticipation. Beast Boy made a motion to roll her beneath him, but Raven had other ideas.

"Oh no you don't," Raven teased. "It's my turn."

* * *

"Toby, what's the last thing you remember before you woke up in that weird place with Uncle Mammoth?" Torque asked as she, Aidan, Terra, and the twins waited for Starfire and Jinx to meet them at the food court after their shopping was finished.

"I 'member Mamma tucking me in an' I felt all hot and stuff and my eyes were all blurry. I went to sleep and when I woke up, I wasn't home anymore," Toby replied, taking a long drink of his cherry soda. Using Robin's scanner back at the Tower, the team had ascertained that Toby had suffered few ill effects of the cryogenic preservation and subsequent reanimation process. Aside from headaches, the occasional nightmare and a voracious appetite, Toby appeared to be a perfectly healthy little boy.

"I'm amazed that Genesis was able to make his body and brain mature like that," Terra commented as she held Olivia in her lap. Olivia licked her lips after taking a drink of blue raspberry soda and smiled. "I'm just happy Toby's okay," she added. Terra and Torque laughed.

"What blows me away is that he managed to not only do that, but he added all that knowledge to Toby's little brain without overloading the neural structure. I mean, it just doesn't seem possible," Torque replied. "Whatever he did, no one will ever know now. The guys reported in and said that the laboratory was completely totaled. There's nothing left."

"All I know is that that I'll never forget the look on Beast Boy and Raven's faces," Terra continued, pausing to remember. Spontaneously, she and Torque looked at each other and smiled. Minutes later, Starfire and Jinx returned with Emily, Jason and Reese and the group left the mall, heading for home.

* * *

Back at Titans Tower, Beast Boy and Raven had gotten up, and even made it to the shower, but once the water was turned on, passion overwhelmed them again and the addition of hot water and soap to their activities made it a very interesting shower. By the time they finished in the bathroom, dressed and made their way up to the kitchen to start lunch, the guys were returning from patrols. Raven smiled as she heard their footsteps and voices on the stairs.

"Booyah!"

"Whoohoo! Way to go, Titans!"

"YO! BB! HOW WAS YOUR MORNING!?"

This last comment, courtesy of Speedy, was followed by peals of laughter echoing up the stairwell. Raven grinned and rolled her eyes as Beast Boy set the table. The others filtered into the room, filling in wherever help was needed in setting the table and preparing the meal.

"Ooh, Raven, I love your hair like that!" Speedy flirted, pecking Raven's cheek as he passed by with a handful of apples. Raven blushed.

"B, what'd you do? She's glowing!" Cyborg teased. The others laughed again.

"If you guys don't watch it, there will be no mercy in the practice arena today," Raven replied, still smiling like mad.

"Speedy better watch himself, if Torque finds out he's flirting with Raven, she'll have his butt…oops, I forgot—she already does," Beast Boy shot back, sliding around behind Raven and wrapping his arms around her waist. The guys laughed out loud once again as Beast Boy planted a few soft kisses along Raven's neck and shoulder. He stopped abruptly and lightly patted her tummy.

"Is this a bulge?" he murmured, a tone of excitement creeping into his voice. "Is this my fourth child beginning to show?" Raven smiled widely.

"Yes," she replied with a laugh, "that would be OUR fourth child beginning to show."

"Speaking of children, the girls and the rest of the kids should be back any minute now," Robin said, gesturing toward the door. Robin looked at his watch and held up his hand. He silently used his fingers to count down from five and then pointed at the door.

"We're back!" Torque cried from the front door. The Titans shared another hearty laugh. The next sound to travel into the room was the rapid thud of little feet and little voices ascending the stairs. The first one to appear in the large living space was Toby.

"Daddy! Daddy! Auntie Torque took me for a ride on her motorcycle!" Toby cried, running to his father and jumping up into his lap.

"It shows," chuckled Beast Boy, inspecting his son's dirty neck.

"Road construction. Well, you did say he needed a bath, right BB?" Torque replied, entering the room carrying two helmets. Speedy got up and took them from her so that she could unstrap the baby carrier secured firmly to her torso. Inside, was baby Aidan.

"Mommy!" cried Olivia, running into the room with Terra and Emily in tow. "Emmy said her first word!" Raven surrendered her position at the stove to Cyborg and went to hug the twins and then took Emily from Terra.

"What did she say?" Raven asked. Olivia and Toby giggled. Terra shook her head and rolled her eyes. Torque laughed.

"She was messing around and got her shoe stuck between the slats on one of the benches at the mall," Terra explained.

"We were trying to help the twins put their coats on and then we heard this whining noise," Torque added.

"Then I zipped up my coat and I heard someone yell, "STUCK!" Olivia explained.

"It was Emmy, Mamma! Emmy said stuck!" Toby giggled. Jinx emerged into the room with Reese a minute later.

"Sorry," she said. "When we got home he was so hungry, I decided I'd stop and nurse him before we all sat down to eat." Cyborg offered the spatula to Speedy, who took up the post so that Cyborg could go and greet his bride and infant son.

Over the conversation and chatter and continued recollection of adventures at the mall, Beast Boy and Raven caught each other's eyes and winked. There would be time for a relaxing nap with the kids between lunch and combat practice later that afternoon.


	2. Frustrated and Lonely

_**Chapter 2: Frustrated and Lonely **_

_**A/N: This chapter and the one that follows it include an instance of corporeal punishment. **If this is something that bothers you, please proceed with caution. You've been warned. _

It had been weeks since the night that Mammoth brought Toby home, and for Toby, it was as if life had not even stopped. He never ceased to amaze his parents by being a perfectly active five year old. He had been thrilled when, shortly before he left for an extended stay in the sea, Uncle Aqualad presented each of the three oldest kids with two tropical fish of their very own.

Days later, Aqualad stared longingly up at the watery reflection of the sun through the water. He had spent the last few days negotiating a peace treaty between the people of Atlantis and the whales that were inhabiting a stretch of ocean near the edge of the thriving underwater metropolis. He missed his friends on land, but he was especially lonesome for a certain petite blonde whom he was certain was missing him too. He longed to return to the surface—to hold her in his arms, listen to her laugh, to stare into her eyes, eyes that matched the sea after a storm. He had something terribly pressing to ask her, but he quivered wondering how she would react.

Back at Titans Tower, it was once again Terra's turn to mind the children while the other Titans took on a battle in the city. It was no secret that the earth-moving Titan had not been in the best of moods of late, and the children of the Titans knew it. Keen-minded little Olivia had a sneaking suspicion that she knew why, but she didn't want to jump to conclusions until she was sure. For now, she and Toby, accompanied by Jason and carrying little Emily, tiptoed into the Titans' practice arena. They had been in this room several times before with their parents, but never alone. Olivia, feeling a bit bold, looked at the others and smiled.

"Watch this!" she whispered, rising into the air several feet higher than she had been able to do before. She grinned as she heard Toby and Jason gasp from the ground.

"Olivia, don't!" Jason cried, stretching his hand out to her. Toby made a move to hold him back and bright green sparks burst from Jason's little hand. Toby gasped, Olivia returned to the ground, and Emily started to cry.

"Wow! Jason's got powers just like Auntie Star!" Olivia cried.

"That was scary!" Jason whimpered. Toby examined Jason's hand as the little one sniffled and started to cry. His palm was burned from the burst of power. Acting without thinking, Toby took Jason's hand between both of his and concentrated. There was a soft blue glow and Jason's hand was healed seconds later.

"How'd I do that?" Toby whispered to his sister.

"That was awesome!" Olivia squealed, hugging him tight. Toby smiled, but all four of the kids jumped in fright as the shadow of their present guardian fell over them.

"What are you guys doing in here?" Terra shouted. "Someone's going to get hurt! C'mon, get out of here!" The twins took hold of their smaller companions and retreated to their bedroom.

"Auntie Terra's sure grumpy," Toby muttered, playing with Olivia's hand-held game as he flopped down on his bed.

"It's because Uncle Aqualad isn't here," Olivia mumbled softly, standing on the footstool to feed their fish. Toby rolled over and looked at her.

"Does she love him?" Toby asked.

"I think so," Olivia replied, turning to face Toby and showing him a small cup containing one of her fish.

"What are you doing? Uncle Aqualad gave us those fishies," Toby asked, discarding the game.

"Yeah, he told us that if we ever needed him to let one of the fishies go and it would find him. Auntie Terra needs him. Someone has to do something," Olivia rationalized. She and Toby placed Emily in her crib and instructed Jason to stay there with her as they padded silently through the Tower, past the living room, down the stairs, and out to the beach. Olivia tiptoed to the edge of the rocks and carefully bent down to release the fish.

"Auntie Terra's coming!" Toby cried. Seconds after the fish left Olivia's hand, Terra was on them, dragging them by the hands back to the Tower. When they arrived back upstairs, Terra ordered Toby to go to the living room and watch the other kids. Meanwhile, she proceeded with Olivia to their bedroom.

"Auntie Terra, you're hurting me!" Olivia fussed. Terra ignored her until they reached the bedroom. Terra sat down on the bed and stood Olivia in front of her.

"Why do you insist on causing trouble?" Terra shouted. "Do you do this just to irritate me? I don't know if you act like this for your parents too, but it's going to end here!" Olivia wasn't used to people raising their voices to her. Raven and Beast Boy had been using a disciplinary method they learned at a meeting at Olivia and Toby's school. It concentrated on values and discussion rather than being punitive. It was more work, but it had been working so far. Olivia and Toby were active, outgoing kids, but as far as their parents were concerned, they were not trouble makers. The Logans had never struck their children, and Terra knew it. The shouting frightened Olivia and she covered her eyes with her hands as she sobbed.

"Are you listening to me?" Terra shouted, getting close to Olivia's face. Fed up, Terra pulled the child closer and pulled her pants down. Olivia reacted and tried to pull away, crying out, "No, Auntie Terra!"

"Spoiled brat! Your parents have never laid a hand on you!" Terra growled, forcing a trembling Olivia over her knee.

Toby could faintly hear his sister scream and sob, but fear paralyzed him to the spot he was sitting in. He had his younger sister, Emily in his lap, and she was dozing off to sleep in his arms. Jason was curled up on the floor beside him, and little Aidan had joined him. Toby occasionally looked over to see when Reese made little baby grunting noises as he slept. Toby allowed tears to slip down his face. He felt helpless to save his twin, but he would see to it that Auntie Terra couldn't hurt the others. Quickly, Toby woke Jason, Emily and Aidan and scooped Reese into his arms. Avoiding his and Olivia's room, Toby led the other children to Jason's room, where he tucked them one by one into Jason's bed except Reese. After locking the door, Toby held Reese himself.

"My powers may not be strong like Olivia's, but I can still do what Daddy said: play defense," Toby murmured.

When Terra left Olivia in her bedroom, she was grumbling again.

"Look at me," she growled. "Terra, super-human babysitter." Terra emerged back into the living room and stopped short as she discovered that the other kids were gone.

"Superhuman babysitter, huh? Sounds like a superb business scheme if you ask me," Speedy quipped, patting her on the back.

"Where are the kids?" asked Torque.

"Reese's cradle is still warm…Terra, where are the kids?" Jinx asked, her calm pink eyes beginning to fill with concern.

"Napping," Terra snapped, turning on her heel and leaving the room. Robin called for her, but she ignored him. Raven, Beast Boy, Torque, and Jinx went to go check on their kids as the others settled into the living room.

Beast Boy slipped his hand into Raven's and smiled as she blushed. The two reached Toby and Olivia's bedroom door, but heard nothing inside.

"Should we let them sleep?" Beast Boy asked, lightly kissing Raven's lips and nuzzling her playfully. Raven giggled softly and stroked his face.

"I just want to check. It's a mother thing," she replied. Beast Boy smiled, patted Raven's backside and pressed another soft kiss to her lips before she went to open the door. She opened the bedroom door and gasped. Olivia was lying on the floor. She had thrown up and then passed out, her skin ghostly pale. Olivia's eyes were puffy and red, and she had not even pulled up her little jeans after Terra had finished punishing her.

Raven and Beast Boy tried hard not to panic as they dropped to their knees and Beast Boy scooped his daughter into his arms. Raven used her powers to clean up the floor and then went down the hall to the bathroom to retrieve a washcloth. She gently washed Olivia's face as Beast Boy held her, begging her to wake up.

"Olivia, wake up," Beast Boy coaxed as calmly as he could. "Olivia Arella….c'mon, wake up, baby girl." Seconds passed and then Olivia awoke to her parents' relief. Raven gingerly took Olivia from Beast Boy's arms and hugged her. Beast Boy spotted the welts on her bottom and growled softly. Raven used her powers to heal away the redness and swelling, but she was sure the emotional sting of being beaten would hang on for a while. Beast Boy escorted his wife and daughter to his and Raven's room, where Raven levitated up onto the bed and sat up against the headboard. Beast Boy wrapped a blanket around them and sat down on the edge of the bed.

"She's gonna pay for this," Beast Boy growled.

"Calm down," Raven said evenly. "Find the rest of the kids. We can deal with this when we know the rest of the kids are safe." Beast Boy took a deep breath and the two jumped as Jinx and Torque's voices echoed back down the corridor.

"Reese isn't in his crib!"

"I thought you said Aidan was napping? Why isn't he in his crib?"

Beast Boy caught up with Robin in the hall and told him how he and Raven had found Olivia. Robin's eyes narrowed as he followed Beast Boy down the hall. If Terra had spanked one child, it was likely she had spanked the others on separate occasions.

"Jason's bedroom door is locked and I cannot get inside!" Starfire cried.

"I think we found the rest of the kids," Mammoth growled. Robin overrode the lock and the door slid open. Toby looked up with a gasp and then a sigh of relief. Jinx rushed forward as she swallowed her tears. "My baby!" she murmured as Toby surrendered the infant. Torque leaned over Aidan and stroked his little head. Aidan woke up, fussed a bit and then saw his mother. Smiling, he reached for her and Torque smiled as she lifted him into her arms. There was a tense silence in the air, so Speedy spoke up.

"Boy, you sure did do a nice job taking care of all the other kids all by yourself, Toby. Thanks, buddy," Speedy said, tousling Toby's hair.

"I'm not in trouble?" Toby murmured.

"No, son," Beast Boy said, coming forward and kneeling in front of him. "You thought the other kids were in danger and you were trying to protect them." Toby nodded and his eyes welled with tears.

"Where's Olivia?" Toby asked.

"Don't worry, Toby, Mamma's got her," Beast Boy replied, picking up Emily and then extending his hand to Toby.

"Toby, what happened that Auntie Terra did that to her?" Robin asked.

"She didn't do anything wrong. We weren't causing trouble," Toby replied defensively. He told the team what had transpired and Robin promised him that he would talk to Auntie Terra and make sure it didn't happen again.

Trouble was, where was Terra?

* * *

Meanwhile, deep in the ocean, Olivia's little fish reached his destination. The little creature flitted around Aqualad's head and he snapped out of his daydream. He cupped his hands and the little fish settled into them. Aqualad communicated by telepathy with the little fish and it only needed to say five words to move the marine Titan to action.

"There's trouble. Terra needs you."


	3. Birthright

**_Chapter 3: Birthright_**

_**A/N: This chapter includes an instance of corporeal punishment. **If this is something that bothers you, please proceed with caution. You've been warned. _

The Titans gathered in the meeting room soon after the children were found. Terra remained in her room, but the others felt that perhaps this was best for now. It was getting late, and the parents gathered around the table each held a dozing child in their arms.

"Is Olivia okay?" Robin asked gently. Raven nodded silently, still holding Olivia close.

"What are we going to do?" asked Jinx. "Has anyone talked to Terra since we got home?"

"I tried, but she insists that it's something she has to deal with on her own. I tried to talk to her about not taking it out on the kids, but she wasn't in a mood to listen to me," Torque replied.

"We need to do something and talking isn't working. Any ideas?" Robin asked.

"A leave of absence could be beneficial," Cyborg said. "It might give her time to think and sort stuff out." Beast Boy took a deep breath before answering.

"I think she deserves exactly what she gave Olivia," Beast Boy said, looking down at little Emily cuddling sleepily in his arms. Toby, one of the only kids still awake, looked at his father and then at the rest of the Titans before speaking up.

"But, Daddy, would that make it better? Would we be good friends if we did that?" Toby asked. The others remained quiet. Toby was right.

"Toby, we've already tried. Auntie Terra isn't interested in talking. What would you have us do?" Robin replied. Toby lowered his eyes, at a loss for words. Calm discussion had always worked for he and Olivia and the other kids in the past.

"What does Olivia think?" Speedy asked. Olivia looked up from her mother's shoulder, shifting her gaze from one side of the table to the other but remaining silent.

"Do you think Auntie Terra should have the same punishment that she gave you?" Raven clarified for her. Olivia thought about this. She tried to remember what she was taught in school. She tried to remember what her teacher would do. She was a first grader now, and occasionally, her teacher was forced to remove recess time from troublesome students or to place them in the corner. In harsher cases, the teacher would remove them from the room entirely. Since that wasn't an option in this case, Olivia pondered the proposition.

"Yes," Olivia answered. The other Titans nodded solemnly but Toby wasn't satisfied.

"Livie!" he cried. "That isn't right!" Olivia's blue eyes filled with tears as she turned to face her twin brother.

"Leave me alone!" she shouted. "No one's ever hit you!" The Titans bowed their heads at this as Olivia buried her face in Raven's cloak and cried a little more. Robin looked at his teammates in desperation.

"If anyone has a better idea, please say so. Making her leave the team for a while would only be a temporary solution. The problem will still be waiting when she returns. Olivia's right: we have to show her what it's like," Robin said. "It's getting late. Do we want to deal with this in the morning?" The Titan parents nodded. The kids had been through enough for one night.

* * *

The Next Morning:

"Robin, I do not advise this course of action," Starfire murmured seriously to her husband as he stood at their bedroom window the next morning.

"I know, Star, but if I don't—if I don't uphold a decision that the team made together—I could never ask them to respect a decision that I make. I couldn't ask them to respect my authority," Robin replied, crawling back up onto the bed and stroking Starfire's hair. Starfire rolled over and went back to sleep. Robin dressed and went to find Terra.

"You what?" Terra shouted when Robin found her in the kitchen with a few of the others. "You took it upon yourself to make this decision without me?" Terra's face turned pale as it dawned on her that Robin was actually serious.

"You can't do this!" Terra screeched incredulously.

"How many times did you strike Olivia yesterday?"

"This is crazy! You can't be--"

"How many times?"

Terra lowered her head and murmured almost inaudibly, "Ten…"

Robin slowly produced a paddle from beneath his cape. He explained that the trainer that worked with the acrobats and tumblers when he was a youngster used to beat the younger performers if they made a mistake in a performance. Robin and a handful of other performing teens had suffered it several times as they developed their skills. Robin had stolen it one day when the trainer was ill and had been hiding it all these years.

"I don't take any pleasure in doing this, Terra. You're our friend. But the team has made a decision and I have to respect it. We set boundaries and limits for the kids, but they don't mean anything unless we also set boundaries and limits for ourselves and each other."

"Robin..."

"Let's go, Terra," Robin says softly but firmly. Terra drags her feet accompanying him to a nearby work room.

"Robin--please--"

"Bend over, Terra. Hands on the desk...." Robin's heart was pounding. He really did not want to do this to her, but he was afraid she wouldn't understand if he didn't. Terra was shaking, but she complied. She was short of breath, her heart was racing, and she was already starting to cry, even though Robin hadn't even touched her.

"Rob..."

"This is for your own good, Terra."

Robin took step forward and hesitantly pulled down the lower half of her uniform. Terra gasped and jerked but Robin placed a hand on her back for a moment and she steadied herself. She resumed her position, nearly hyperventilating. Robin stepped back and prepared for what he was about to do. Terra heard the soft hiss of air as Robin wound up and swung.

CRACK!

Terra screamed and collapsed to the floor, shaking and sobbing. Robin dropped the paddle, now cracked in half, fell to his knees, and pulled her into his arms. Robin rocked her and murmured comforting words as he stroked her hair. He hadn't even touched her. He had purposefully hit the edge of the desk instead. Robin himself was near tears, too.

"Do you see now? Look how scared you were, and you're a grown woman! How afraid do you think Olivia was when you spanked her and then left her there all alone to get sick and lose consciousness...all alone..."

"She what?"

"You didn't even realize you hit her so hard, did you?" Robin said gently.

"Oh, my God..." Terra wept. "She'll never forgive me!"

"Sure she will," Robin said, reassuringly, still holding her and stroking her hair. "It's going to take time, but she will."

"What have I done?" Terra sobbed, wetting Robin's uniform with her tears.

"You made a mistake, Terra. It's human to make mistakes. Could you have done worse?" Robin replied.

"I don't see how!" Terra wailed.

"If you had been any angrier, you might have killed her. Wouldn't that be worse?" Robin suggested. Terra nodded.

"All right. I agree. Let's make it right," Robin said, firmly kissing Terra's temple and continuing to hug her tight. She was still clutching his sleeve and her hands were shaking.

"Even with everything I've been through, that's the most terrified I've ever been in my life!" Terra wept, still brushing away tears.

Robin helped her up and he let her straighten her uniform. He then offered another hug--an embrace that Robin allowed to linger until nearly all of the blonde Titan's tears had dried away.

"You didn't do this for no reason, Terra. You've been upset about something for a long time but you're not telling us what's wrong. Let us in. What's going on?" Robin said, smoothing Terra's hair.

"You'll think it's stupid," Terra sniffled.

"No I won't," Robin replied. "I promise."

"Well, you see, it's just that…"

Before Terra could utter the words, the front door of the Tower opened and shut, setting off the alert light in the work room.

"Company?" Robin wondered.

* * *

Aqualad walked into a very quiet Titans Tower and began to wonder what was going on. Olivia's fish had told him that there was trouble but now everything was quiet.

"Did I miss the party?" he asked the fish through the protective water-filled bubble he held it in. Speedy slid down the banister and met him at the door.

"What's up, gill breath?" Speedy said. "We didn't expect you back so soon."

"I got a message saying there was trouble here," Aqualad replied. "What's going on, dweeb-boy?" Speedy patted him on the back and draped an arm around his shoulder.

"You have no idea, fish-lips. Not a clue," Speedy replied.

"Care to fill me in, Robin Hood?" Aqualad shot back. "Where's Terra?"

"You better sit down, guppy lover," Speedy said, finally getting the last word as he led Aqualad to a chair.

* * *

"Uncle Aqualad!" Olivia squealed as she ran to hug him. Aqualad smiled as he deposited her fish back into its aquarium.

"Thanks for alerting me, kiddo. I'm glad the system works," Aqualad said, hugging each of the twins and then the other kids. He stood again and looked behind him. Several of the Titans were entering the room; among them was just the woman he needed to see. He knew about the trouble she had been in the previous night and that morning, but he had something so pressing to talk to the team about that he put it aside for a while.

"Hey, Aqualad," said Robin, shaking his hand. Aqualad returned the gesture briefly and then turned to take Terra into his arms. He kissed her soundly on the lips and then looked into her eyes, relief shining in his own. He was so glad to be back.

"You're a sight for sore eyes!" he sighed. Terra nearly cried. She felt she didn't deserve this affection after her behavior the day before. "I have fantastic news. After I negotiated that treaty for the Atlantians, I had a talk with the Regents. I've been offered the throne."

The Titans reacted in shock. The throne? As in they would make Aqualad their king?

"I'm the only remaining descendant of the royal family. This is my birthright. I have some time to decide but I had to come back and tell you all. But most of all, I came to ask you a question. Terra, I love you. If I choose to ascend the throne, will you be my queen?" Aqualad asked. All motion in the room ceased. Terra looked at Aqualad and then felt wearily for something to support herself on. Had she heard him right?

"Garth…I can't be your queen. I can't breathe under water!" Terra cried, raising her voice with each successive word. "I'm thrilled that they've given you this opportunity, but I don't see any way that we could be together if you took it!"

"We'll find a way! Please, Terra, I love you so much! I don't think I can do it without you beside me!" Aqualad pleaded.

"You should have thought of that before!" Terra shouted. "If you do this—if you choose to take the throne—that's your decision, but if you do go, you go without me!"

Aqualad took a shocked step back. This was an ultimatum he had not counted on.

"Terra…" he whispered, his purple eyes gathering heartbroken tears.

"You heard me. Go back to your people. Rule them wisely and well. But you'll do it without me," Terra replied through gritted teeth. She was holding back the sob that begged to rip free of her soul.

"Fine…" Aqualad said after minutes of tense silence. He turned about and immediately left the Tower, returning to the sea without another word.

Terra watched from the high Tower windows as he dove gracefully back into the seas and finally released her sob. Still frozen in their places, stunned by what had just happened, the other Titans watched as Terra fled Titans Tower, running in the opposite direction of the bay. Though they tried to stop her, Terra fought the other Titans off and continued to run. There was nothing left for her here. Once again, Terra was running away, leaving a wake of tears behind her.

* * *

The next day, at 12:30 in the afternoon, to the shock of everyone, there was a pounding on the door of the Tower. Aqualad had returned. He was out of breath and weak, having come as fast as he could possibly swim.

"Where…" he gasped. "Where's Terra?"

"We lost track of her about 3:30 this morning. She left our tracking range," Cyborg answered.

"I thought you were going back to become King of Atlantis?" Raven stammered.

"I gave it up…I told them…if it was going…to cost me the love of my life…that I wasn't interested. They got along without me this far…let them keep going…" Aqualad replied, steadily catching his breath.

The other Titans looked at one another in helpless regret. They couldn't stop Terra—she had been so upset—and now that Aqualad had returned for her, she was nowhere to be found.

"Which way did she go?" Aqualad cried.

"You're going alone?" Beast Boy cried.

"Not a chance in hell," Robin added.

"Friends are friends forever. We are going with you," Starfire added.

"Call a sitter!" Torque shouted. "We've got a radar blip on our little mover-and-shaker! Let's go!"


	4. Fight or Flight

_**Chapter 4: Fight of Flight **_

"Don't you worry Aqualad, we'll find her," Cyborg said as he drove in the direction that Terra was last headed in. With both the jet and the car, there was enough room for ten of the eleven adult heroes and today, all ten places were filled.

"I should never have gone…I should have told her right away that she meant more to me than the stupid throne!" Aqualad muttered.

"Stop blaming yourself," Robin said through the communication system that linked them to the microphones in the jet.

"Yes, Terra chose to run away from home," Starfire added.

"Do you think the kids are okay at home with a sitter?" Jinx asked. She had never been away from Reese for more than an hour or two since the minute he was born.

"With two sitters, and yes, they're fine," Torque replied. The T-Car hovered effortlessly over the terrain as it became rocky and rough, and the T-ship soared above them, suddenly surging ahead and barrel-rolling in the air. Robin and Speedy's voices roared with laughter and whoops of joy as the plane cruised over the car. Jinx shook her head, Torque rolled her eyes, and Cyborg chuckled as he said, "I'll bet Raven's wishin' she'd have ridden in the car about now."

"No, I'm not," Raven replied. "But I'm guessing Beast Boy is." Several members of the team groaned or laughed out loud as Beast Boy started to groan and then his microphone suddenly cut out.

"That's really not a mental image I needed, guys!" Torque shouted through the intercom.

"You two are gonna be scrubbing out the cockpits!" Beast Boy whimpered weakly when his microphone came back on.

* * *

Far away, Terra finally stopped running. She was still crying, and the tears were blurring her vision to the point where she could no longer see clearly enough to continue. When Terra wiped away her tears, she noticed that she was far beyond the city limits of anywhere she had been before. This desert-like valley was littered with boulders of varying sizes, from basketballs to Buicks, but beyond her, just a quarter mile run, was an even larger one. This one was nearly the size of the T-ship, and Terra took a deep breath before running toward it. It was exactly what she needed.

The Titans landed the vehicles several miles from their target. "She's still moving! Hurry, Titans!" Robin cried. "Raven! Help us out here!"

"Thought you'd never ask!" Raven said, gathering her breath. "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!" Raven encircled her friends in a bubble of dark energy and carried them up the tall hill ahead of them. When they reached the top, Raven released them and the Titans spotted their target. Terra was at the top of the next hill and quickly vanished behind it.

"Terra! Wait!" Robin cried. The team broke into a run, trying to catch up to her, but a deep rumble of the ground seconds later shook several Titans to their knees. The others proceeded and reached the crest of the next hill, where what they saw nearly make their hearts skip a beat. Terra was down at the bottom of the hill, a massive boulder held just a few feet over her head. It was plain that she intended to drop it and end her life. She spotted the Titans and screamed for them to stay away. Her powers were beginning to weaken, and she was having a hard time keeping the boulder above her.

"Don't do this, Terra!" Beast Boy shouted.

"Why? I've alienated my friends again! I've lost the man I love…I've beaten an innocent child! I beat your daughter! Give me one good reason I shouldn't drop this right now!" Terra shrieked.

"Let us help you!" Torque begged.

"If we didn't love you we wouldn't be here!" Jinx cried.

"Yes! The entire team is here, Terra! We need you with us!" Starfire added. Terra seemed to at least be considering it. She looked at the Titans, their eyes pleading for her to reconsider this deadly choice. They were all there? The whole team? For her? Just then, the rest of the team bounded over the hill. Terra looked up and her heart nearly broke.

"Aqualad!" she cried. Terra gasped as she lost her grip on the boulder. The other Titans screamed as the rock came crashing to the ground, even Raven and Torque, though they had tried, had not been fast enough to catch the boulder. It easily could have weighed two tons. The heroes stood silent, none of them able to move. It had all happened so quickly that none of them could react.

"Terra…" Beast Boy murmured, his eyes wide with tears. He turned to Raven and buried his head in her shoulder. Aqualad collapsed to his knees. The coldest of oceans never deadened his senses the way this sudden event had just now. He stared at the rock, suddenly certain that his heart was with her under the rock.

"I can't believe it…we were so close," wept Torque, leaning back into Speedy's arms as he wrapped them around her shoulders.

"There's no way she could have survived it…it happened so fast!" Jinx murmured, hanging her head. Cyborg came forward and rested a hand on her shoulder.

"There was nothing we could do," he added. Robin remained on his knees before them, leaning forward to pound his fists down into the dirt. He pressed his forehead against the hot ground and wept. They had lost her again.

More than a full minute passed before any of the Titans could bring themselves to move. The dust settled, and Raven was the first to move, gently turning to shepherd her husband away from the scene. The wind gusted gently, howling softly over their heads. Something in this breeze echoed with what sounded, to the Titans, like the voice of their fallen comrade and several more released their tears. Starfire helped Robin to his feet, but no one knew if they should go near Aqualad. His powerful shoulders still shook with grief, and more than anything, his friends wanted to allow him to mourn. Suddenly, the marine Titan's head jerked upright and looked penetratingly at the boulder.

"What is it, Aqualad?" asked Mammoth.

"I heard something," Aqualad replied, his voice trembling.

"It's the wind, Garth," Raven said gently. "…her soul calling back to us from the earth."

"No—I heard it!" Aqualad cried. Even Raven was crying now.

"Man, there's no way she lived through that. My sensors aren't even picking up—"

Cyborg suddenly interrupted himself as he checked the scanner in his arm again.

"What is it, Cyborg?" Jinx asked gently.

"I don't believe it…" Cyborg stammered. A cough, more pronounced than the wind, punctured the air seconds later, followed by a soft gasp and a definite voice.

"cough Help me! Are…are you still there? Anyone?"

Aqualad and Beast Boy had never moved so fast. Raven, Starfire and Torque soared overhead and the others ran just a few steps behind them. There, behind the boulder and with her foot pinned beneath it, was Terra—very much alive. The dust was sticking to her face where her tears were falling, and it only took seconds of combined effort for the Titans to lift the boulder and destroy it.

As soon as she was loose, Aqualad yanked Terra into his arms and clasped her close to him. Terra, sobbing once again, clutched her arms around him and buried her face in his shirt.

"You…you came back for me!" Terra wept.

"Terra, I told you, I love you! You mean more to me than any throne of any world, on this side of the ocean or otherwise!" Aqualad replied, stroking Terra's hair.

"You gave up your throne to be with me?" Terra whimpered.

"I wouldn't want to be any place on earth where you couldn't be with me. I thought my heart stopped when that rock fell. Please, don't ever do that to me again!" Aqualad replied.

"Do you really love me so much?" Terra whispered, tears flowing freely from her shining blue eyes.

"Terra, I would die for you!" Aqualad replied, kissing Terra's mouth. Raven took advantage of this distraction and quickly mended Terra's broken foot with her powers.

"I healed most of the damage, but she should still stay off it for a while," Raven reported when she turned to Robin.

"No problem," Aqualad smiled, lifting Terra into his arms. Terra smiled gratefully.

"I don't deserve you guys, you know that?" Terra sniffled.

"I think that's the point, Terra," said Torque, patting Terra's arm as Aqualad held her. "None of us actually 'deserve' each other. We've all messed up at one point or another, but that's what friends are for—they defend your ass when it needs defending, and cover it when it needs covering, and they really don't care where you've been and what you've done, but they care that you are there with them in that moment-that you're there when they need you the most…for instance…when your foot is caught under a three ton boulder?"

The other Titans indulged in a long, hearty laugh. After the day they'd had, it felt great.

"Let's go home, Titans," Robin said proudly. After some reshuffling of the seating arrangements, the Titans headed home. Beast Boy soared along side the jet on the way back to Titans Tower, screeching out in joy in the form of a hawk.

Back at the Tower, Olivia's head perked up at the sound of a bird of prey outside. She looked around and then got up from the game she was playing with Toby and Jason.

"What is it, Livie?" Toby asked.

"I hear a bird," Olivia said. Just then, a rumble broke the air.

"I hear a plane!" said Jason. Olivia ran to the living room and pressed herself up against the window.

"THEY'RE BACK!" Olivia squealed, running for the stairs. Toby was right behind her as they ran. Two flights down, Olivia grabbed her brother under the arms and lifted him into the air, carrying him down the rest of the stairs. When they got to the bottom, Toby was laughing.

"Great trick, sis!" he giggled.

"No problem," Olivia replied with a smile. The twins waited until they heard the hangar doors and the garage overhead doors closing and the voices of their family emerging from the vehicles. The two bounced anxiously until the warning light above the door turned green, and then bolted into the garage and threw themselves into their parents' arms.

"Daddy!" Toby cried, leaping into Beast Boy's open arms.

"Mommy, we missed you!" Olivia cried as Raven lifted her up spinning her in a circle as she hugged her. The Titans processed up to the living area: this occasion called for pizza—and lots of it. While the others got settled, Terra sat with her foot up on the couch. Olivia saw her and, despite the events of the past weekend, Olivia climbed up onto the couch and into Auntie Terra's arms.

"What's this for?" Terra asked softly. "I know I sure don't deserve it."

"Daddy told me a story last night," Olivia said, snuggling down a bit. "He said... Jesus had lots of friends that went everywhere with him, just like the Titans. There were bad guys for Jesus too. The bad guys got a hold of Jesus and were hurting him and some of his friends wouldn't even help him but he…but Jesus told…he said to his daddy that he should forgive them because they didn't know they were hurting him. They didn't know what they were doing." Terra was overwhelmed. She was sure that in telling his daughter this timeless story of forgiveness, that he was reinforcing it as much in himself.

"So…what are you saying, Olivia?" Terra asked, her voice beginning to choke up with emotion. Olivia wrapped her arms around Terra's neck and hugged her.

"I love you, Auntie, and I forgive you," Olivia said, smiling as Terra slowly hugged the little one against her and kissed the top of her head.

"I'm so sorry, Olivia! You're absolutely right—I had no idea what I was doing! I love you, Olivia! Thank you so much!" Terra wept. Olivia snuggled down into Terra's arms, wedging herself between Terra and the couch cushions. With Terra's arms around her, Olivia—and Terra too—were soon fast asleep. Terra had never been so grateful for the innocent love of the children in her life.

Later that night, Aqualad carried Terra to her room and insisted upon tucking her into bed. He kissed her over and over in this process, from helping her change her clothes to placing her in bed and pulling the covers up. Terra pulled back from one of these kisses and looked at her beloved with a thankful smile.

"What are you thinking?" Aqualad asked in mild concern.

"I've made a decision," Terra said simply.

"Oh?"

"Yes."

"What's that?"

"I'm ready."

"…"

Stunned speechless, Aqualad let Terra pull him to her again and kiss him more passionately than she ever had before.

"Are you sure it's not going to aggravate your injury?" Aqualad asked.

"I'm sure we're fine," Terra said, scooting over as he slipped beneath the covers and covered her mouth with his again.

"I've waited too long for this," Aqualad whispered.

"I know," Terra murmured. "I'll never make you wait again!"


	5. Hide and Go Seek

_**Chapter 5: Hide and Go Seek**_

Toby and Olivia didn't seem to be too bothered by all the noise that was going on in the hallway. They simply looked up at the door as they sat at the kitchen table and colored. Hearing the shouting of their parents and the other Titans, they simply shook their heads and went back to their coloring books. All of this ruckus could only mean one thing: combat practice.

"Whoo-hoo! Let's go, Titans!" Robin cried, gathering the team a few at a time.

"Boys versus girls!" shouted Torque.

"No way! Husband-wife tag teams!" Beast Boy countered.

"No fair! You two always cream everybody else that way!" Terra argued.

"And your point is?" Raven quipped.

"Onslaught!" suggested Cyborg and Mammoth.

"Capture the flag!" yelled Speedy.

By the time the Titans reached the practice arena, Robin had declared Capture the Flag, boys versus girls, no power limitations. Beast Boy nearly had to sit down.

"We're screwed!" he shrieked. "The girls are gonna decimate us!"

"Just because they have their powers doesn't mean we don't have enough of our own," Robin replied with a mischievous grin. Minutes into his elaborate explanation of a battle plan, Robin felt a tug on his cape.

"We wanna play too!" said Toby.

"Yeah!" said Olivia.

"It's too dangerous," Beast Boy replied.

"You guys are just still too little," said Cyborg. As the disappointed twins stood before them, a smile slid across Robin's face.

"What do you say we turn up the heat on this?" Robin said.

"What are you talking about?" Speedy asked.

"How much more of a challenge do you think it would be if the targets could think for themselves?" Robin suggested.

"You wanna make the kids the flags?" Beast Boy squeaked.

"Cool!" laughed Speedy.

"They'll be the power limitations. Typically, we've had to go looking for new flags by the time we're done. This time, we can't damage the flags. Besides, if you lose this flag, it runs!" Robin explained, sending Toby to their flag point and Olivia to the other side of the arena.

* * *

"Ingenious!"

"Awesome!"

"Absolutely not!"

"Aw, come on, Raven," said Torque. "It's only practice. Besides, you heard her: Robin's using it as a power limiter."

"I refuse to lose another child!" Raven growled.

"Look at it this way, the kids can start learning self-defense and escape strategies," Terra added. Raven grudgingly conceded and Robin started the automated system that transformed the plain arena into a fully loaded obstacle course filled with everything the Titans would need for a realistic combat practice.

The plan went exceedingly well, the twins providing the much needed unpredictability that they didn't usually get with the simulations or each other. The only time the twins actually became really afraid and cowered behind the rest of the team, was the time their parents went head-to-head towards the end of practice. The other members of their respective teams literally backed away as Raven's telekinetic powers crackled in the air and she cackled madly. Beast Boy transformed into a massive T-Rex and charged against his wife. She fought valiantly, but Beast Boy thrashed his head and threw Raven across the room, slamming her against the opposite wall. Raven screamed as she hit it and slid down, catching herself with her powers. Being dizzy didn't help, but she fought back all the same.

Several times, the rest of the team tried to intervene, but Robin and Torque kept them at bay. This was one lover's quarrel none of them were willing to give their lives to break up. Raven uprooted a large column in the room and swung it like a bat, catching Beast Boy by surprise in the side of the head. Roaring in shock, he shrank rapidly. Raven swept down to charge him and he morphed into a tiger, baring his sharp teeth and swinging his tail to warn her that he was serious. Raven charged anyway, slamming him against the stanchions that held down the climbing ropes on the obstacle course. Beast Boy roared and opened his massive jaws. He reared up on his hind legs, morphed into a gorilla and shoved his wife to the floor. He lunged over her and held her arms down. Effectively pinned, she could no longer move.

"Let…me…GO!" Raven growled through gritted teeth. Beast Boy continued to roar, lurching forward to attack her further. Raven gasped, squeezed her eyes closed and melted through the floor and out of her husband's reach. She reappeared a dozen feet away and seconds later there was an elephant bearing down on her. Beast Boy had her again within several more seconds. This time, she wouldn't be able to escape. She grunted in exertion as she fought to get away. Beast Boy used his trunk to hold Raven down and lifted his massive foot to crush her.

"DADDY!"

"Beast Boy! Stop!"

"C'mon, man, it's just a game!"

Beast Boy shook his head, his trunk lashing from side to side. Slowly, his form melted and Beast Boy was on his hands and knees, fighting to catch his breath. He crawled over to where Raven still lay on the floor, catching her own breath and collapsed, rolling onto his back to lay beside her.

"That was close, Raven," Beast Boy said, turning his head toward her.

"I could have beaten you whenever I wanted," Raven replied, her eyes closed against the blinding fluorescent lights.

"I beg your pardon?" Beast Boy squeaked. They could hear the other Titans come running. Beast Boy rolled over and helped Raven up onto her knees, at which time she promptly kissed him.

"I love you, Gar," she whispered.

"I love you, Rachel," he replied, stealing two or three more light, teasing kisses as they stood and left the arena with the twins in their arms and their teammates around them.

"Can we do it again, Uncle Robin?" Toby cried.

"That was fun!" giggle Olivia. The bruised, exhausted Titans exchanged weakened looks. Robin smiled wearily back at the kids.

"Sure, guys. Anytime,"

* * *

_**Months later**_

A sunny, mid-May Sunday afternoon brought the Titans, young and old, to the park. As the children ran to play with their peers, their parents sat nearby and chatted with other guardians present that day. It was more difficult for some than others to keep from going to play with the kids. It didn't take long for the sunshine and action to wear Raven out.

"There are enough of us here, Rae, if you and Beast Boy want to go back to the Tower," Terra offered, giggling as Beast Boy finally succumbed to the temptation to transform into a monkey and swing across the monkey bars with Toby. Minutes later, Beast Boy and Raven kissed their children and reminded them to behave themselves before they departed for the Tower.

As mid afternoon approached, the Titans' alarms went off. Killer Moth was baring down on the city again with a fresh swarm of his brainwashed larvae moths. The Titans looked helplessly at the kids.

"We'll watch them for you! Go!" one parent cried. Grateful, the Titans rushed to save the city. As the swarm approached, one extraordinary larva dropped down out of the sky and shook the ground as he landed in the open field of the park. On the playground, Olivia shouted for Toby to grab Aidan. She herself carried Reese and Jason and Emily ran after them as Olivia found them a place to hide.

"I want mommy!" whimpered Emily.

"I know, Emmy," Toby replied, "I want momma, too."

"Just stay quiet. That thing won't find us if we're quiet," Olivia said softly. She was having a hard time keeping Reese from screeching out. Jason buried his face in Olivia's shoulder and tried hard not to cry. The moth suddenly turned and focused directly on the hidden children. It roared and screamed, charging toward them. The young Titans braced themselves for the impact when there was a sudden explosion and then it was quiet. The park was empty now—the parents and other children had fled, and everywhere the kids looked, there were chunks of dead moth.

"Come," said a man in a mask. "You have nothing to fear anymore." The kids remained where they were, unsure that this stranger, though he had saved them, was trustworthy.

"Olivia, come. Bring your siblings with you," the man invited with his hand extended.

"How did you know my name? We're not supposed to talk to strangers," Olivia challenged.

"You are very clever, Olivia, just like your mother. I am no stranger. I know your parents quite well," the man said. His voice was warm and calm.

"What do you mean?" Toby asked. His eyes still betrayed criticism of this suddenly appearing savior.

"Toby, don't!" Olivia insisted, making Reese fuss and cry out.

"Prove it. If you know our parents, prove it," Toby demanded. The man knelt before the recess in the playground equipment where the children hid and pulled something from his pocket: it was a lock of violet hair tied with a dark blue ribbon.

"Livie, that's momma's hair," Toby murmured. Olivia and Toby carefully crept out of their hiding place and the little ones nimbly followed them. They inched closer and looked at the lock of hair.

"It could be fake. I don't believe you," Olivia spat.

"Auntie Starfire told you a secret this morning, didn't she kids?" the man said. Olivia took a protective step back. A smile seemed to form behind the mask.

"Young Jason's going to be a big brother, isn't he?" the man added.

"How did you know that?" Toby stammered. "She hasn't even told Uncle Robin yet!"

"I told you, I am well acquainted with your parents," the man repeated. "Come with me. Killer Moth cannot get you if you are with me."

"Thank you, sir," Olivia said politely. "But could you please just take us home? It's not far from here."

"You will be far safer with me. Your mother is not able to fight, and your father's first duty is to her," the man said.

"No it's not!" Emily cried. "Daddy loves us!" The man knelt and gently stroked Emily's hair.

"Of course he does, child, but he is the only thing protecting your mother and her unborn baby right now. The other Titans are fighting Killer Moth. I can protect you now. You don't want to have to fight one of those moths by yourselves, do you? Is that what you want?" the man said. Olivia looked at the still steaming chunks of moth and shuddered.

"Where are you taking us?" Olivia demanded.

"You will be perfectly safe. We'll just play a game with Killer Moth. We'll play hide and go seek—somewhere he'll never find us,"

With this the tall, masked man disappeared with all seven of the young Titans, vanishing in a puff of smoke.


	6. Interludes

_A/N: Thanks go out to everyone who's come with me all this way! Brownies and cookies to those who caught Raven's name! In a recent issue of the comics, (Titans #20) Raven is now free of her father's influence and is trying to pursue a more normal lifestyle when she's not crime fighting with the other Titans. She chose the name Rachel Roth as a civilian name. (Thus now in my story she would be Rachel Roth Logan) There's an excellent fanart pic of her on the favorites gallery of my deviant art profile! check it out! As for our masked villain, another cookie to those who have made guesses as to who it is. I will not tell yet who it is, but I can safely tell you this: it isn't Malchior. Nice detective work, guys! _

**_Chapter 6: Interludes_**

Robin couldn't quite believe the day he was having. Beast Boy and Raven had not responded to the alarm when Killer Moth was sighted, the team had just barely been able to defeat him without them, and now the team had returned to the park to find that their children were missing.

"What else could go wrong?" Robin shouted, throwing his staff on the ground. Starfire took a fearful step back, her arm across her midsection and the others took a collective step back a second later when he rounded on them.

"Let's just try to stay calm," Torque ventured, trying to preempt some of Robin's rage. "I'm sure there's a logical explanation for all of this."

"All I've got to say is that Raven and Beast Boy better have a fantastic excuse for not responding," Robin snarled.

"Rob, Raven's pregnant," Terra gently reminded him. She was rubbing her right elbow where one of the moths had taken a swing at her. Robin whirled to face her, his eyes narrowing behind his mask.

"What did you say to me?" he replied softly, his voice hovering above a growl. Aqualad wrapped his hands protectively around Terra's shoulders and glared at Robin defensively and Mammoth growled at him.

"Cut it out, Robin. We did the best we could. Let's just go back to the Tower and get this straightened out," Speedy added. Robin didn't bother waiting for his teammates. He returned to the Tower alone and in silence. When they entered the Tower, Robin shouted for Beast Boy and Raven, but they didn't answer. Torque, Speedy and Starfire followed closely up the stairs to the bedroom levels and followed him as he entered Beast Boy and Raven's bedroom without bothering to knock. The rest of the team held its breath. If Robin blatantly walked in on something, he may not live to see another hour's life. But there was nothing. Torque discovered their missing comrades' communicators lying on the floor near the window.

"Have our friends been kidnapped as well?" Starfire gasped.

"There's got to be more here than what we're seeing," Cyborg stammered. Robin stormed out of the bedroom and past his friends. He needed to go to the gym and take out his frustrations there before it came out another way. He left the rest of the team standing dumbfounded in the hallway, wondering where to start.

"Who would kidnap the kids?" Speedy wondered.

"Could they be with Beast Boy and Raven?" Terra asked.

"That doesn't make sense. Why would they leave the communicators?" Jinx replied. About this time, Starfire began to grow a bit paler than she should be.

"Are you all right, Star?" asked Torque.

"I am…not well…" Starfire whimpered.

"We're all feelin' a little queasy, Starfire. The kids are missing," Cyborg answered. Starfire didn't respond, but crumpled to the floor seconds later, fainting into a heap of red and purple on the floor.

"Star!"

"Are you okay?"

"Say something!"

The other Titans gathered around and slowly coaxed the Tamaranian back to life. She sat up slowly, still shaking from weakness.

"I should have told you all before…" she murmured. "I am once again with child…Robin has been so angry that he has not noticed that I have been ill…" The Titans shared a soft, collective gasp of mixed emotions. They were thrilled that Robin and Starfire were to be parents again, but it concerned them that Robin had been so neglectful of her.

"Well, nothing's gonna get solved while we're sitting on the floor," Aqualad finally said. "Cyborg, I think you and I both know of someone who just might be willing to help us."

"Yeah, I do," smiled Cyborg. Minutes later, the Titans, minus their agitated leader, met in the living area to greet a friend they had not seen for years. Time had wrought a woman's beauty on her once girlish features, but her eyes still reflected the bold, self-reliant teen she had once been.

"Wassup, Titans? Havin' a little trouble kickin' butt?" she teased.

"More like someone's been kickin' ours," Cyborg retorted.

"I heard that, laser-lips. What's goin' on over there?" the voice returned.

"It's a long story, Bumblebee," Aqualad began, explaining what had happened that day. After he had finished, Bumblebee promised to begin a search of her own.

"Do you need us to send a contingent out to help you?" Aqualad offered.

"You can, but I think I've got enough help for the moment," Bumblebee smiled, gesturing behind her. A fraction of a second later, two young, bright eyed, red-haired boys appeared in front of her, crowding her out of the way and crying out, "Hola, los amigos nuevos!" The two babbled on for a moment and then began to push each other, eventually escalating to punching and then Bumblebee pushed them out of her way and rejoined the conversation.

"Before you say anything, that was Mas and Menos. The names mean More and Less. They run really, really, fast. But only when they're touching; and in case you didn't figure it out already, they only speak Spanish," Bumblebee explained.

"I like them already," Speedy grinned. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking, Mammoth?" The enormous Titan grinned and punched his fist into the opposite open hand.

"Yeah…target practice…"

"Now, boys, you be nice to them. They're only little kids!" Bumblebee warned. Speedy and Mammoth chuckled softly.

"All right. Speedy, Torque and Mammoth are coming to join your efforts," Aqualad replied.

"Gotcha. Thanks, guys. Good luck with the search on your end. Bumblebee out," Bumblebee concluded, disconnecting the communication relay.

"Pack up, guys. You're going East. You'll join Bumblebee, Mas, and Menos in Steel City to begin a second wave of the search," Aqualad ordered.

"Roger."

"Okie-Dokie."

"Aye-aye, mon capitain,"

* * *

"Beast Boy?"

Beast Boy's eyes blinked open and focused on the blue-cloaked vision before him. Raven was kneeling beside him, looking over him with an expression of concern.

"Beast Boy, wake up," she repeated.

"Raven?" he murmured. She helped him to sit up and he rubbed his head with a free hand. "Where are we?"

"You aren't going to believe this—Welcome to Azarath."

"Are you-"

"No, I'm not kidding and we have to get to somewhere fast," Raven remarked.

"What's wrong?" Beast Boy demanded, helping her up. Raven suddenly gasped and her hand flew to her abdomen.

"I'm in labor!"

* * *

Four of the six young Titans lay fast asleep on the king sized bed in the room in which their rescuer had placed them. Olivia, skeptical and ever watchful, sat meditating at the foot of the bed, her long violet hair occasionally falling in her face. Jason very carefully set his little backpack on the floor.

"What's in that, Jason?" Olivia asked.

"Mother told me to take care of him…she said he was my responsibility today…" Jason whimpered. Olivia closed her eyes and sighed. "Tell me you didn't bring Silkie here with you," she grumbled.

"I couldn't leave him there!" cried Jason, hugging the pack to him and making the bundle emit a gurgle and a squeak.

"Just keep him quiet. I'm trying to meditate and the others are trying to sleep," Olivia muttered. Jason crept up onto the bed and Toby woke up. Without a word, he made room for Jason and moved to the end of the bed to sit cross-legged and facing his sister. As though this was common practice, Toby and Olivia placed their arms one over the other and took each other's entwined hands. They took a unifying breath and then began to chant:

"Azarath…Metrion…Zinthos…"

As the twins meditated, the masked face of their keeper peered through a porthole in the door. Olivia, though her eyes were closed, noticed this, and grasped her twin's hands a bit tighter. In reassurance, Toby returned the grip. He was confident that their parents and the other Titans would find them any moment.

* * *

Half an hour after Aqualad gave the order for them to pack, Speedy walked into Torque's bedroom with a backpack slung over one shoulder. The customary grin on his face vanished when he noted that his bride-to-be was sniffling back tears as she stuffed things into her duffle bag. Speedy dropped his backpack, quiver and bow and crossed the room to her, concern written in his eyes.

"Ginny?" he asked. "What's wrong, baby?"

"I was gathering stuff to pack and I almost packed Aidan's diaper bag," Torque replied without looking up from her packing. Speedy gently took hold of her hands and kissed each one, causing Torque to wilt into his arms and begin to cry all over again. Speedy murmured reassuring words to her and held her in his arms.

"We'll find them, honey," Speedy said gently. "Bring the diaper bag anyway." Torque, with her head still buried in Speedy's shoulder and her arms wrapped around his torso, nodded slowly.

"We've all been on such an adrenaline rush all day I didn't even have time to react…Roy, I want my baby back!" Torque wept.

"I know, angel. I miss him, too," Speedy replied, kissing the top of Torque's head.


	7. Save Me From the Dark

_**Chapter 7: Save Me From the Dark **_

Beast Boy and Raven didn't have to look far to find shelter. The settlement of Azarath was closer than they suspected, and Raven guided Beast Boy to an ornate temple near the middle of the town.

"It's too quiet here. Where is everyone?" Beast Boy asked.

"Meditation. There are specific times during the day that everyone stops what their doing and goes into meditation. It's part of our religious observance," Raven replied. Beast Boy hoisted Raven into his arms and carried her up the steps and into the temple.

"Let me walk from here," Raven insisted. "If I don't, it would be disrespectful to the temple. I know you don't understand, but you have to trust me." Beast Boy nodded, his look serious. He worried that Raven would over-stress herself and make her labor more strenuous. They were not there more than a few seconds when a woman emerged from the temple sanctuary.

"Azar?" Raven called. The woman smiled.

"I am not the Azar you speak of, but I bear her name. I am the daughter of the woman that raised you," Azar replied. "It's true…you've really returned…you've defied the prophesy?"

"Yes," Raven said, carefully maintaining her calm. "We need somewhere private. My baby is about to be born." The woman's eyes grew large for a moment.

"Arella was right…you've followed in her footsteps…"

"No!" Raven shouted firmly. "Beast Boy is my husband. He's as human as you and I and the child I carry is ours. Please, help me." The woman nodded and guided them to a guest room in the back area of the temple. Another contraction swept over Raven's body and she collapsed to her knees, crying out in shock when her water broke. Calmly, Azar helped Raven remove her uniform and slip into a plain, short-sleeved shift. Beast Boy helped where he could and when it came time, he sat behind Raven and supported her, rubbing her lower back to ease the pain of the contractions as they became more severe.

When it was time to push, Beast Boy helped to steady Raven's knees and cried with her as the pain became almost more than she could take. But if he was crying then, it was nothing compared to the flood of joyful tears that blurred his eyes when he watched his newest child emerge into the world.

The cord was cut.

The infant cried.

After giving the baby a warm bath and a snug new gown and blanket, Azar blessed the little one, and surrendered it to Beast Boy. Beast Boy took the tiny miracle from her arms and was lost for words. Had this tiny life truly been curled up inside Raven's body all this time? He returned to the bed where Raven dozed and placed the baby in her arms before arranging himself back on the bed in a position where he could hold them both.

"I love you so much, Raven," Beast Boy murmured, kissing the top of her head, then her cheek, and as she turned her head to meet his, he made contact with her lips. "Ten fingers, ten toes…congratulations, honey, we have another son!"

Azar, observing this scene, accepted the profuse thanks of the two grateful parents and then slipped out of the room. She was certain they would be hungry after all that commotion and as she glanced at the clocks, Azar noticed that she had missed dinner. She quietly chided herself. Certainly, she would have been missed and someone would be sent to find her. She was nearly to the door when two more women entered the temple.

"You missed dinner, my lady," the first said politely.

"Yes, we had unexpected guests several hours ago, and I'm afraid they needed immediate attention," Azar replied with a smile. The second woman didn't look convinced.

"Where is she? I sent for her. She would have come here first, I know it. It was Raven, wasn't it?"

Azar took a step back and then composed herself. "Calm yourself, Arella. Your daughter and her husband are here, as you have surmised, but they are resting. They have had quite the stressful afternoon."

"How so, Lady Azar?" the first woman asked. Before Azar could convey the joyful news, Arella shrieked out in horror, "It's true! She's conceived a child and has brought forth another bastard demon on our world! She has defied the prophesy only to create a new legacy of terror!"

"CALM YOURSELF AT ONCE!" Azar demanded, reaching out her hand and causing Arella to fall to the ground holding her head. "Your daughter has spared an entire universe the rage of the man that sired her by doing precisely what comes naturally to a young woman: she fell in love! You call the man she married a beast, yet he has demonstrated to me that she matters more to him than anything in the world. You have nothing to fear by this, Arella. If you know what is good for you, you will compose yourself and greet your new grandson with the joy that is his due!"

"M-my grandson…" Arella stammered.

Azar slowly descended to her knees and wrapped her arms around Arella's shoulders. "You should be proud. He is their fourth."

"Fourth?" Arella gasped. "I have…four grandchildren…that I never knew…" Tears were gathering in her eyes now. She was ashamed that she had assumed the worst. Timidly, Arella peered into the back room. A soft sucking noise and the murmur of two voices drew her attention to a low bed across the room. Arella thought she'd died and gone to some elaborate heaven. Her daughter was feeding her baby while the man that she had assumed to be a monster held her protectively in his arms. Gently, he took the baby from her so that she could button up her gown, and it took until this was accomplished for them to notice she was there. Raven's eyes grew wide and her mouth fell open.

"Mom?"

"My child!" Arella wept, crossing the room to them and pulling Raven into her arms. Mother and daughter wept as they held one another. Beast Boy could only watch this small reunion and smile. After introductions had been made, Arella nearly lost her breath as Raven laid the baby in her arms.

"Meet your youngest grandchild, Caleb Mark Logan," Raven said gently. Arella could only stare.

"I have not felt such joy in my heart since the moment I first held you, Raven," Arella murmured.

"Wait till you meet the other three," Beast Boy said proudly. Together, they laughed. Arella could scarcely imagine having this one grandchild, let another three more. She was officially overwhelmed. For the remainder of the night, Arella cared for her family. She was beginning to realize that it was true—Raven really had changed her destiny, and for the better.

* * *

"What are you doing, Livie?" asked Toby, sitting down on the floor beside his twin sister. She had Jason's drawing pad on her knees and she was concentrating quite hard on what she was drawing.

"I've got an idea," Olivia replied, not looking up from the sketch pad. She explained her plan to Toby as she colored. Just like the majority of Olivia's plans, it was risky—but it was possible. As they continued to scheme, their youngest sibling, Emily, sat up and began to cry. Though she was only four, she understood concepts far beyond her years, and thus in her little hands was a small, round hand mirror. She could command it to show her whatever she wished, and right now, it was showing her Raven, in the throes of some horrible agony. Emily wept at this.

"Mommy's dying!" she wailed. Toby and Olivia leapt off the floor and crowded around her, nudging closer to see the image in the mirror. Indeed, it did appear that Raven was nearing her last minutes on earth.

"We've gotta do it, Toby," Olivia said gravely. Toby took the mirror from his little sister's hand, causing her to squeal in protest until Olivia turned her to face her.

"Listen, Emmy, give this to Daddy when you see him," Olivia instructed her, pressing one of her drawings into Emily's hands.

"Daddy?"

"Yes. Go through the tunnel Toby's gonna make for you and it will take you to Daddy. But first, you have to tell the mirror to show you daddy, okay?" Olivia said. Emily did as she was told and commanded the mirror to show her father. When Beast Boy's image filtered onto the reflection, Toby concentrated, opening a swirling portal of concentric whorls. The mirror's image was reflected into the end of the portal but this time, it seemed more real, and Emily forgot her fears, running blindly into the brightness of the tunnel. Toby collapsed in exhaustion as his little sister disappeared into the dimensional portal he had created, dropping the little mirror as he fell. The hand mirror was undamaged by the fall onto the carpeted floor, and Toby remained still as Olivia and Jason hurried to his side.

"Toby! How did you do that?" Olivia screeched.

"I just…knew….I was thinking about mom and I just did it," Toby replied. A distant voice called from far down the corridor, "What's going on in there?" Olivia and Toby's heart rates doubled. Olivia put Jason's backpack on him and tucked another drawing into his backpack. She pulled a third out of the sketch pad and pressed it into Jason's pocket.

"Your turn. When he opens the door, run. Don't stop until you get out of here. If you have to play dead, do it. Just like when we escaped from Brother Blood," Olivia ordered. "Find Auntie Bumblebee and show her the picture in your backpack. If someone offers to help you get to where you're going, show them the picture in your pocket. It's a picture of the Eastern Titans Tower. Remember, don't stop running and don't worry about us, okay?"

The door was flung open minutes later and Jason froze. Toby bent down and whispered in Jason's ear, "Pretend you're your dad's sidekick! He needs you to be brave now! RUN!"

Hearing the words, 'dad's sidekick', 'brave', and 'run', little Jason's face changed completely. Their host-turned-captor reached for him and Jason raised his hands, screaming as green light burst from them, blinding him. Olivia and Toby distracted the man long enough for Jason to get out, but the rest was up to him. As Olivia and Toby locked themselves into the room, they realized that they were all that stood between Aidan and Reese, the youngest members of the family, and the danger that lurked outside the door.

"We're the Titans now," Olivia said with soft determination. "Mamma and Daddy and the others have code names. We should have codenames too." Toby nodded in quiet agreement.

"I name you Catalyst," Olivia said in a very official tone. "Your powers make other people's powers better and that's what Mamma said a catalyst is. You took Emily's mirror and turned it into a portal."

"Okay. Then I name you Hummingbird. Your powers allow you to fly and you've started to be able to move stuff with your mind, like Mamma does. You look just like Mamma except you're smaller. She's a Raven, so you're a Hummingbird," said Toby. The two shook on it and prepared for what they were certain was going to be the most difficult battle they had ever been through.

* * *

Jason raced up and down the unfamiliar city streets as fast as his five year old legs could carry him. He stopped occasionally to catch his breath, but never for too long as this made Silkie squirm, and Jason was afraid that if Silkie got out, he would never catch him again. Stopping at a corner to tie his shoelaces, Jason felt a heavy hand on his shoulder. He gasped, looking up into the eyes of a very grungy, unpleasant looking man. But before the man could rip the backpack off the little one's back, two bright red bolts of energy knocked the man to his hands and knees. Jason looked around and a young woman stepped out of the crowd. Her bright red top and black slacks in themselves were not unusual, but her hair, dark, glossy black with auburn streaks, made her stand out in the hustle and bustle of busy people in the heavily industrial city. The woman's brown eyes glittered beneath her short hair as it fell in her face. She smiled as she bent down and extended her hand to Jason.

"Hi! I'm Aries. What's your name, little stranger? I don't see too many kids in Steel City, let alone a guy your age running around alone. Where are you headed?" the woman began. Jason, too fearful to speak, pulled the picture from his pocket. As Aries looked at it, Jason found the courage to speak.

"M-my name is Jason Todd Grayson," said Jason. Aries smiled.

"Well, Jason Todd Grayson, I think I can help you get to your destination. Who do you know at Titan's Tower?" Aries asked, taking his small hand in her own.

"My Auntie Bumblebee," Jason answered. "She lives there." Aries nodded. Grinning widely, she scooped Jason up into her arms and carried him as she flew. When they arrived at the Tower, Bumblebee couldn't believe what she was seeing.

"Auntie Bumblebee!" Jason cried, running to hug her.

"Jason! What are you doing here? Do your parents know you're here?" Bumblebee gasped. Jason started to cry. He fumbled for the clasp of his backpack, but as soon as he opened it, Silkie wriggled loose of his grip and got away into the Tower. Bumblebee sent Mas and Menos after the mutant silk worm and refocused her attention on the child before her. He showed her the picture that Olivia had instructed him to show her as he cried, wearily accepting Bumblebee's arm around him.

"Oh my God…" Bumblebee murmured. "Is this where you've been? This man kidnapped you and you escaped?"

"All of us!" wailed Jason. "He took all of us!" Bumblebee looked at Aries with a grim look of determination.

"What should we do? His parents need to know he's here," said Aries.

"I'm not sure whether to call them and tell them he's here and have them come here, or to take him home myself and save them the trip," Bumblebee murmured, still hugging Jason close as he sobbed. Bumblebee stood slowly, leaving Jason with Aries, who had joined the East Titans only weeks before, the yellow and black Titan speed-dialed Titans West.

The phone at the Jump City Tower rang and rang. Robin, upon hearing the ringer, put down his ham sandwich to go answer it. The rest of the team had informed him of the plan when he emerged from the gym and he agreed to it, as if they would have given him a choice. With the frustration finally drained from his system, he had found the calmness to go and apologize to Terra for yelling at her, and then to Starfire, accusing himself of being a terrible husband.

"No!" Starfire had gasped, lightly stroking his face. Robin had smiled. He loved it when she did that. "You are the most wonderful husband one could ask for! Torque tells me most men never apologize for their actions! But you have!" Robin has laughed at this. He supposed she had a point. After a shower and a restful nap, Robin's appetite had gone into overdrive. The sandwich he had been devouring when the phone rang was his fourth.

"Hello?" Robin mumbled, still swallowing his sandwich. Bumblebee's face materialized on the screen.

"Robin, good, you're feeling better. I've got good news and bad news. What do you want first?" Bumblebee replied.

"Um…I suppose the good news. I mean, finding out that Star and I are having another baby was amazing news but if you can top that, go for it," Robin suggested.

"Congrats to you. But I think I can top it," Bumblebee retorted. "Guess what my team just brought in?"

Seconds later, Robin slammed the phone down, radioed the other Titans that one of the kids had turned up, and only minutes after talking to Bumblebee, Robin kick-started the R-Cycle and was gone. Starfire was still feeling woozy, the others were out searching and that left him to go retrieve his son.

When Robin arrived at the newer Tower, his heart pounded against his ribs. Bumblebee's bad news: the identity of their enemy, had disturbed him to the core, but right now, the safety of his child was more important. Robin raced inside and up the stairs.

"Jason!" Robin shouted up the stairwell. Upstairs in the main area, Jason picked his head up off Aries' shoulder. "Daddy…" Jason started for the door just as Robin emerged through it. Both stopped in their tracks for a second, absorbing the sight of the other before them and making certain it was real. Robin dropped to his knees and Jason ran full speed into his father's arms. Robin had only felt that relieved once before: when the girls and kids had been taken by the Master of Games, and now he was experiencing that joy of holding his son all over again. Jason's lip trembled for a while and then, as if a dam had broken, Jason wailed, burying his face in his father's cape. Robin sat down hard on the floor, cuddling Jason and whispering that it was all right now—daddy was here.

"I was so scared, Daddy!" Jason sobbed, fat tears falling from his bright green eyes.

"I came as soon as Auntie Bumblebee called me, Jason. Wild horses couldn't have stopped me from coming for you! I love you, son!" Robin replied, hugging Jason close. Jason clutched Robin's caped shoulders and continued to cry for a while, his little heart slowly returning to normal rhythm. Once this reunion was complete and Jason was duly comforted, Robin turned to Aries.

Aries, who had been watching all of this, was moved to tears. She considered herself to be of a tougher breed than most, but seeing a small, distraught child reunited with his parents was too much for even her stern composition. Besides the obvious quality of genuine parental affection, there was something else to Aries' emotional observation. There was something about this man that she was inherently attracted to.

"I can't thank you enough for saving him from that mugger…" Robin said, struggling for her name.

"Ariadne Harper. You can call me Aries," Aries replied. Robin's eyes widened for a second in recognition.

"Harper, huh? I don't suppose you're a relation to our Speedy," Robin asked, shaking her hand. Aries stopped mid-handshake.

"Y-you know my brother?" Aries stammered. "I've been searching for Roy for years!" It was Aries' turn to cry now. Could this really be happening? Could she really have just stumbled upon the long lost twin brother she had been searching for all this time? Bumblebee entered the room again and after explanations, Aries bid Robin and Jason goodbye. Surely, within the day, her brother and the sister-in-law-to-be she never knew she had would be joining them in Steel City.


	8. Capture the Flag

**_Chapter 8: Capture the Flag_**

Emily Marie Logan tumbled out of the whirling tunnel and fell to her hands and knees, collecting scrapes and bruises as she rolled. It was as if someone had simply jerked the ground out from under her. Startled by the fall, Emily was silent for a while and then whimpered for a moment before beginning to sob loudly. Unable to focus on anything tangible, Emily wailed out the last thought that had crossed her small mind, "Daddy!"

Disoriented and now terrified, she continued to sob and scream alternately, her tears creating a small puddle on the ground before her and the force of her outbursts turning her pale skin bright scarlet. Her teal hair was mussed and tangled, and the dust was beginning to stick to her cheeks. Emily mustered another breath and screamed again, "Daddy!"

Inside a nearby cottage, Beast Boy startled himself out of a sound sleep. It was mid-afternoon on Azarath, and Beast Boy blushed to think he had fallen asleep with his arm around Raven and Caleb. What had awakened him? There wasn't so much as a bird chirping on this humid day. Then he heard it again—the sound of a child crying. The superhero in Beast Boy surged forward in his mind. Was this little one in danger? Here? After listening to a period of several seconds of sobs as he walked to the door, he heard a sound that made his heart flip-flop in his chest: the gut-wrenching sound of a terrified child calling for its father. Beast Boy froze. That voice. He knew that voice. He knew it as well as he knew the color of his own hair.

"_Emily!_" Beast Boy shouted, pushing through the door. Charging out into the sunlight, Beast Boy's eyes raided the landscape for the source of the voice. He didn't need to look far. The equivalent of a city block lay between Beast Boy, and his four year old daughter. Looking up from her scraped and slightly bleeding hands, Emily spotted him and recognized him. Immediately, she scrambled to her feet and started to run. Beast Boy ran toward her, meeting her a little more than half way to where she had landed.

Beast Boy's heart pounded as he bent down and swept his shaking, sobbing, terrified little girl up into his arms.

"Daddy's gotcha, Emily…I'm here, baby girl…Oh, God, how did you get here? Shhhh….It's okay, Emily…Daddy's here, Emily….Daddy's here," Beast Boy soothed, clutching Emily close against him. Beast Boy dropped to his knees near the house and smoothed Emily's hair out of her eyes before he covered her cheeks and forehead in kisses. After this, he hugged her again, this time rocking back and forth a bit, noting in the back of his mind that it was working—Emily was calming down.

Hearing the commotion, Raven gingerly placed the baby in his cradle before going outside to see what was wrong.

"Beast Boy, what's going" Raven began. She gasped as her heart skipped a beat. Emily looked up to see her mother and began to cry all over again as Raven knelt down and opened her arms.

"Mommy!" Emily wept, throwing herself into Raven's arms. Raven picked Emily up and carried her into the house, making short work of her scrapes, bruises and tears. Emily looked up at her mother with still-watery eyes and murmured, "I love you, mommy." Raven swallowed her own tears and hugged Emily again.

"Oh, baby, I love you too. Emily, how did you get here? Where are Toby and Olivia?" Raven asked gently.

"Toby—he took my mir' and made a tunnel to get to daddy," Emily recalled. Raven sat back, agape, and looked up at Beast Boy.

"He used Emily's mirror to create a dimensional portal," Raven gasped.

"Why didn't they come with her, though?" Beast Boy asked.

"Aidan and Reese…an' Jason…Olivia drew this and said give it to daddy," Emily continued. Raven grew pale as she took the paper from Emily's little hands.

"Oh my God…"

"It can't be…"

"What is going on?" Arella asked as she walked back into the cottage. She had brought home fixings for their dinner and the scene she walked into was a bit confusing. Raven picked Emily up and carried her across the cottage as Arella set the groceries on the table.

"Mom, this is our Emily. Emily, this is your grandmother," Raven said, kissing Emily's cheek gently. Emily looked shyly at Arella for a moment and then whispered, "Grandma?" She had always wondered if she had a grandma like the other children she played with at the park. Her wish had just been unexpectedly fulfilled and Emily did the first thing that entered her young mind: she smiled and squealed, "Grandma!" before leaning out of Raven's arms and landing easily in Arella's embrace. Arella, shocked by this wide open display of undaunted love, shed tears as she held the little teal-haired jewel that Raven slowly released into her arms. Beast Boy still had the drawing in his hands.

"This isn't good, Raven. If he has all of the kids, we need to go back and tell the rest of the team. They're going to need us," Beast Boy said gravely.

"What about the baby?" Raven replied. "We can't just leave the kids in the Tower, he'll get them again for sure!"

"I'll watch them. If you like, as you find the other children, you can bring them here. They'll be safe here," Arella interjected, standing and carrying Emily with her to where her daughter and son-in-law stood.

"It's the best option we've got. We have to leave them here," Beast Boy added. Raven closed her eyes and in a flash of soft white light, Raven was dressed again in her Titans uniform. She and Beast Boy kissed and cuddled their children and hugged Arella before Raven used her powers to transport them back to their own dimension.

* * *

Beast Boy and Raven shocked their teammates minutes later, appearing unexpectedly in the middle of the living room.

"Where have you two been?" Terra asked, getting up to hug them.

"You wouldn't believe us if we told you," Beast Boy said.

"There's no time for this. We've got bigger problems," Raven replied.

"We know. Robin's on his way back to the Tower right now. Raven, I don't know if you guys know this, but the kids…" Terra struggled. She was partially afraid of what Raven would do and afraid she herself would lose her cool.

"We know," Beast Boy replied simply.

"Emily found us in Azarath," Raven added. "We've got a plan so listen up everyone." But before Raven could begin, Torque caught sight of her midsection.

"Raven! Your baby!" Torque gasped. Raven stopped, closed her eyes a second, and then took a breath. Opening her eyes again, Raven said, "He's fine. He's in Azarath with Emily and my mother. She offered to watch the other kids as we find them. They'll be safe there, so I recommend that we follow the plan." Robin appeared with Jason and the rest of the team folded them into the discussion.

"I heard what Raven said about leaving the kids in Azarath. It's a good idea. Actually, Starfire could probably go with them. She hasn't been feeling well so she would probably be better off there so she can rest," Robin added.

"Daddy, no!" Jason cried, throwing his arms around Robin's neck. "I don't want to go!"

"I know, son, but mother's going with you and you're going to be safe there. We need you to be safe, Jason," Robin replied, turning as the door to the living area opened and closed, admitting Starfire. She saw Jason and nearly wept for joy.

"Mother!" Jason cried, his little backpack rattling as he ran to her. He giggled as she lifted him up into her arms and into the air, swinging him in a circle.

"My little bungorf has come home!" Starfire cried. After this welcome was complete, she carried Jason with her to join the conversation.

"There is no need to worry about me. I am well enough to fight with the others," Starfire insisted.

"I'd like you to go anyway. You can help Arella defend the kids," Robin said.

"Sounds good." Raven said confidently. After laying out a plan, Raven created another portal to Azarath and Starfire carried Jason through. After leaving them with Arella, Raven returned and the Titans took to the skies: they needed to get to Steel City and join the others there.

* * *

When Speedy, Torque and Mammoth arrived at Titan's Tower in Steel City, they were already apprised of the situation and the fact that the other Titans were now on their way to join them, but they didn't expect one thing: Aries. Speedy was planting a soft kiss on Torque's left temple as they walked in the door and he turned and saw Aries. The archer Titan dropped his backpack and opened mouth to speak but nothing would come. He opened his arms and let hot tears fall from his masked eyes, openly weeping as his long-lost twin sister bounded across the room and threw herself into his arms. Aries sobbed as she clutched her brother in her arms for the first time in 10 years. Any of the words that passed between them were lost to the other Titans, obscured and muffled by the reunited siblings as they buried their faces in one another's shoulders.

"I thought I'd never find you!"

"Look at you! You're so beautiful!"

"Can you believe we were just little kids the last time we saw each other?"

"I missed you so much!"

By the time Speedy and Aries had recovered their composure, the rest of the team had arrived, and Robin and Bumblebee began laying out their plan of attack.

"We've been tracking this for months now," Bumblebee began. "We had no idea who was behind it—we didn't even recognize him. His new underground complex is composed of seven descending levels arranged in a"

"We need to stop beating around the bush," Robin interrupted. "None of us wants to admit it, but we're dealing with Slade." The Titans were quiet for a few moments while Jinx and Terra simultaneously shuddered. They all knew what had happened to Slade—but how had he managed to return?

"The only explanation for Slade's return that we could think of is that another, more malevolent being resurrected him to serve a larger purpose," Raven added. After another short silence, Beast Boy spoke up. "So—we sneak in, full frontal assault and then unleash the trained gerbil commandoes?" The Titans, remembering this action plan from their youth, laughed out loud. The east coast Titans had not been there, but those that knew Beast Boy the best remembered, and laughed until their ribs ached.

"Well, I don't know about gerbil commandoes, Beast Boy, but we may just need that sneak attack and definitely a full frontal assault," Robin grinned. As the others settled back into their places, Beast Boy withdrew something from his pocket—Olivia's drawing. She had drawn a picture of Slade on one side, and on the other she had written her parents a message. Beast Boy's eyes widened.

"Or," he began. "Olivia seems to think we should follow her plan." Beast Boy said slowly.

"What are you talking about?" Raven asked, turning to look at him. Beast Boy turned the picture around, showing the team that his six year old daughter had just given them all the battle plan they really needed. On the paper, in crayon and written in Olivia's handwriting, were the words:

"Capture the flag"

Cyborg whistled. Robin smiled. Terra giggled. Brilliant Olivia had just told the Titans everything they needed to know.

"All of the kids are in one place. We need two teams. One team will distract Slade and his reinforcements while the other penetrates into the complex and finds the kids. Raven—you're going to head up the first team. Get to the kids and transport them to Azarath. Once the kids are safe, everyone regroup and we'll finish this once and for all," Robin ordered.

"Robin, Cy beat him to a bloody pulp and threw him off a cliff onto rocks in a high-tide ocean. It may not be as easy as that," Terra countered.

"For the safety of our kids and every other innocent person in the world we have to try," Robin replied. The other Titans nodded and a sense of eagerness and confidence came over them.

"What are we waiting for?" asked Speedy.

"Let's go!" cried Aries.

* * *

On the way to Slade's lair, Beast Boy and Raven took a collective deep breath as they sat in the back seat of the T-Car. Beast Boy took Raven's left hand in both of his and reverently kissed it. Raven smiled softly and pillowed her head against his shoulder.

"Are you sure you're feeling up to this?" Beast Boy murmured. "Maybe you should have stayed in Azarath with Star and the kids." Raven slowly shook her head.

"No. I'm fine. The atmosphere in Azarath is so conducive that people heal faster. You should know," Raven replied, reaching up to stroke Beast Boy's face with the hand he had just kissed. "Your skin's been practically glowing ever since we got there." Beast Boy grinned as he cupped Raven's face and favored her with a warm, passionate kiss.

"That wasn't being in Azarath—it was being with you," Beast Boy replied. Raven smiled and relaxed contentedly into Beast Boy's arms, slipping her hand into his as the car hurled them toward their destination. As was her habit when they went for a drive, Raven's eyelids began to get heavy. She could hear Mas and Menos babbling softly in Spanish but her concentration was on Beast Boy's heart beat. It was steady, and she desperately needed that steadiness. She needed that concentration. Seconds later, Raven was asleep and Beast Boy followed, leaning his head against hers. Cyborg looked in his rear-view mirror, saw them, and smiled.

The Titans left the vehicles just out of radar range and used Raven's teleportation abilities to get them closer. Slade's lair was heavily guarded, but with twelve Titans, the bots didn't stand a chance. While the others took on the robotic guards, Raven, Cyborg, Aries and Torque teleported into the complex to begin searching level by level for the kids.

A voice startled Toby out of his concentration. He was trying to console little Aidan, who cried incessantly since the kids had begun to hear explosions and other strange noises coming from outside. Olivia flinched when another explosion shook the room. Reese was sobbing, fat baby tears rolling down his rounded cheeks.

"We've got to do something!" Olivia shouted above the noise.

"We can't leave Aidan and Reese!" Toby shouted back. Olivia gasped when she heard a familiar sound. She ran to the door with Toby tight behind her and pressed her ear against the door to listen. Footsteps pounded the floors as they listened and more familiar voices rang out. Olivia pulled back a few steps with her and rolled up her sleeves.

"Ready," Olivia cried. "Azarath!"

"Metrion!"

"ZINTHOS!" Olivia screamed out the last word as Toby touched her shoulders, amplifying her powers as she used telekinesis to throw a nearby chair at the door. The thud was heard out in the corridor, where Raven led the others past one door and then another.

"Toby! Olivia!" she shouted in shock. "Where are you?"

Inside the room, Olivia and Toby shared a high-five. Olivia struggled to lift another object until Toby replaced his hands on her shoulders. With him in place, Olivia hurled a small table at the door, the resulting echo resounding around them. Raven heard this, and turned quickly toward the sound. Toby and Olivia returned to the bed when the footsteps grew closer, sweeping the little ones into their arms and guarding them. They heard the muffled sound of their mother's voice and their hearts pounded.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!" Raven shouted, pulling the metal door clean off the hinges. When the dust cleared, Raven, Torque, Cyborg and Aries ran into the room. Raven dropped to her knees and opened her arms, to which the startled twins smiled in joy.

"Mommy!" they screeched, running to her waiting embrace. Raven clasped them close and held them while Cyborg and Torque went farther into the room to comfort Aidan and Reese. Little Reese reached his baby arms to his father, his hiccups disrupting his long sobs of misery. Cyborg dropped to his knees beside the bed, wrapped his son in a blanket and cuddled him until he was calmer and his hiccups started to dissipate. By the time all four of the kids were duly comforted, Raven stood and created another portal. Torque and Cyborg carried the little ones and Raven ordered her twin son and daughter to follow them.

"Mommy, we wanna help!" cried Toby.

"No!" Raven shouted, her eyes flashing bright white. "Go with them! Emily is there and your grandmother and Auntie Starfire are waiting for you!" The twins' eyes grew wide at the prospect of this adventure, and did as they were told. They knew better than to argue when their mother was provoked anyway. Cyborg and Torque returned and Cyborg put on his game face.

"Let's go kick some ass, once and for all," Cyborg growled.


	9. Freedom Call

**_Chapter 9: Freedom Call  
_**

The wind whistled softly in Robin's ears as he stood surveying the damage before him. He hadn't thought it possible, but it was over-truly over. Slade and his minions were finished, and it wouldn't be long now before the authorities were there to retrieve the bodies and finish cleaning up the scene. The Titans, though victorious, were definitely a battered group. During the battle, Slade had tried to attack Terra, crushing her beneath his iron grip, but with a little help from Jinx and Aqualad, this didn't last long. Robin helped his teammates to get back to the T-Car and the T-Ship, dragging their feet but their heads held high in pride.

Upon returning to Titans East Tower, the superheroes decided that Azarath could wait until morning-it was time to celebrate! Four hours after the battle, the Titans were out on the town, indulging in more than one party, and more than a little to drink. Even Raven, whose conservative nature usually made her stay away from alcohol, imbibed a bit more than usual. By the time they arrived home, it was needless to say that another shower and a warm bed were in order. Robin still sat in the living room after his teammates had retired to bed. Out of the shadows came the slender figure of their newest teammate.

"Aries?" Robin called softly.

"Yeah, it's me," Aries murmured. Robin rubbed his temples with his hands.

"Wow," he muttered, hanging his head. "I don't think I needed that last drink." Aries laughed.

"I don't think any of us did," she replied, sitting down beside him. Sighing softly, Aries turned a bit and leaned back against Robin's shoulder, closing her eyes against the dim light of the living room. Robin shifted his weight a little and Aries unexpectedly slid backwards into his lap. She laughed as he gasped and then relaxed, supporting her head and neck with one arm and then resting the other over her torso. Robin looked down at Aries and smiled a bit. He was more than a little dizzy, and a little cold, but Aries' body was warm and that heat felt so good. A tingle worked its way up his spine when Aries lifted her hand to stroke his face. Having been without Starfire for several days, he was lonesome for the touch of a woman's hand. The dizziness was back, and the alcohol firing in his veins made him bold. He leaned into her hand for a moment, absorbing her affection.

Aries slowly slid out of Robin's lap and stood, taking his hand and helping him up. Without saying a word, she led Robin downstairs and down the hall to her room. Aries had not had as much to drink as she let on. As a matter of fact, she had only had one drink. Aries forgot about her conscience as she and Robin worked one another out of their clothes and fell to her bed.

An hour later, down the hall and around the corner, Beast Boy was startled awake by the sound of his wife's voice. Raven had sat bolt upright in bed and was pressing her right hand against her head.

"What's wrong?" Beast Boy asked groggily.

"I don't know—my head!" Raven gasped. Beast Boy sat up and wrapped his arms around Raven, looking her over in an attempt to find out what was bothering her. As he did this, the pain intensified and Raven started to shake and she cried out in pain. Beast Boy's eyes widened as he watched his wife collapse into his arms. She was in so much pain she couldn't even see. Beast Boy got out of bed, hoisted Raven into his arms and exited the room, heading down a level to the still-new medical bay.

"What's happening?" cried Bumblebee, pulling her robe over her shoulders.

"I don't know! She woke up with her head hurting and now she's in so much pain" Beast Boy started, but before he could finish the sentence, Raven's grip went limp. Panicking, Bumblebee and several others who had awakened at the sound of the commotion, worked furiously to try to revive their friend. It was too late. As they worked, the crimson red crystal on Raven's forehead disintegrated. Her teammates gasped at this and then watched helplessly as Raven slipped into a shallow coma.

"No!" Beast Boy cried, squeezing her hand. "No! Raven! Come back!"

"She's not dead, B. She'll be okay. Give her some time to heal herself. I'm sure she'll be okay," Cyborg said, resting his hand on Beast Boy's shoulder. A tear fell from Beast Boy's eye as he pulled up a chair and sat down beside the bed.

"There's nothing else we can do," Bumblebee muttered. "We may as well go back to bed for a couple more hours. Until she's conscious again, we can't even get to Starfire and the kids. We're helpless."

Torque covered her mouth with her hand, stifling a sob as Speedy eased her into his embrace to comfort her. The Titans shuffled back to bed, exhausted and unsure of what the morning hours would bring.

Hours later, when morning sun spilled over the folds and wrinkles in the bed sheets, Aries took a deep breath and rolled over, snuggling into the tightly muscled arms of the man beside her. Robin took a deep breath of his own, moaned softly and without opening his eyes, buried his nose in Aries' hair and breathed for a few moments as he wound his arm around her. It only took him that few seconds space to realize where he was.

"Aries?"

"Good morning," Aries mumbled back, lightly kissing his neck.

"What the—what am I—what did we…Oh my God…" Robin stammered, pulling out of Aries' embrace and sitting up to rub his tired eyes with his hands.

"What's wrong?" Aries murmured, sitting up beside him.

"What's wrong? Aries, I'm a married man!" Robin cried. "My wife is in another dimension and I spent the night with another woman! You want to know what's wrong?"

"You don't have to yell at me," Aries grumbled, tugging at the covers. "You didn't exactly protest when I"

"Stop! I don't need to remember the details. I gotta get out of here before someone catches me," Robin growled, getting out of bed and reaching for the scattered pieces of his uniform.

"Did this mean anything?" Aries asked as Robin pulled his shirt over his head.

"Aries…"

"Just answer me!"

Robin looked at her, searching for something in her eyes. "You didn't drink last night. I was totally thrashed and you knew it…you used me…You knew I'd never sleep with you otherwise…" Robin thought out loud.

"Robin, I"

"Leave me alone. I have a mission to finish," Robin snapped, lacing up his shoes and draping his cape around his shoulders.

"Robin!"

"Shut up!" he cried, ignoring it when she flinched. "I love my wife and I love my son and I can't believe you would think so highly of yourself that you think you can just put yourself above that…Just stay away from me." With that, Robin stormed out into the hallway and made for the upstairs living area for breakfast. On the way there, he crossed paths with Beast Boy, who filled him in on what had happened to Raven during the night. Robin squeezed Beast Boy's shoulder and told him to go and get some rest. He himself would go watch over Raven for a while.

Robin shuddered as he heard the beep of the machine that monitored Raven's heartbeat and brainwaves. He sat down in the chair that Beast Boy had just vacated and slipped his hand into Raven's.

"Are you in there, Raven?" Robin called softly. Robin's eyes widened as his best friend's brainwaves increased and her eyes flickered open. Raven took a shallow breath and turned her head, just as if she had heard him calling her. She looked at Robin and gently smiled.

"I see what's going on in your head, Robin," Raven murmured.

"Do you?" Robin asked.

"You're worried," Raven replied.

"Worried about you," Robin added. Raven closed her eyes, took a deeper breath and sighed.

"What happened?" Robin asked, standing up to get closer to her.

"Oh, Robin," she murmured. "I'm free." Robin looked a bit perplexed. "Free?" he echoed.

"I've had the voice of my father in my head all my life…fighting for control of my emotions…all my life…but it's gone…it's over…I'm truly at peace for the first time in my life," Raven replied, a tear escaping her eyes. Robin squeezed her hand and bent down to kiss her forehead.

"Is there anything I can do for you?" Robin asked. Raven smiled and sighed again.

"I want my children, Robin. I want to hold my babies and tell them all that I love them," Raven replied, swallowing her tears. Robin slid his arms around Raven and hugged her. Raven smiled as she embraced him, allowing herself to genuinely feel the love in his friendship for the first time.

"Thank you, Robin," she murmured.

"What are best friends for?" he replied with a grin as he eased her back down to the bed and tucked her in.

* * *

In Azarath, the scene was far from the peace that Raven was experiencing. The people of Azarath cowered in their homes and feared for their lives as the demon, Trigon the Terrible, the crimson beast that became Raven's father, rained fire and ash upon the small community. The young Titans cowered in their grandmother's home as she and Starfire ran to assist the others in defending the town. The house shuddered on its foundations, and Toby and Olivia sheltered their younger siblings as they watched the windows trying to get a glimpse of Arella and Starfire in action. It didn't look good from their perspective.

"Can we do something now, please?" cried Olivia.

"Like what? We can't leave the others!" Toby cried.

"I'll watch them!" Jason cried. "Emily and me!"

With this, Toby and Olivia launched themselves toward the door and bounded outside.

"Why have the others not come for you and the children yet?" Arella shouted over the din of the battle.

"I do not know! There must be something wrong!" Starfire shouted, sending another barrage of starbolts hurling toward the monster. Olivia scooped her brother up as she leapt into the air, holding him under the arms as they soared toward Starfire. Not expecting them, Starfire gasped as Olivia dropped Toby onto her back and Toby clasped his arms around her shoulders.

"What are you doing?" Starfire cried. "You must return to the house where you are safe!"

"Try your starbolts again, Auntie Star!" Olivia shouted, getting behind her. Starfire wound up and screamed as she released another massive energy bolt. This one, instead of knocking the demon off balance, made him fall to the ground.

"Whooo! Go Auntie Star!" Olivia cried, adding her own very small energy bolts to fire fight. Stopping abruptly, Olivia stared at her hands.

"How'd I do that?" she gasped.

"Way to go, Sis!" Toby laughed, immediately turning his concentration back to Starfire. The Demon Trigon looked up from the ground, flat on his back, to see the woman he had taken so long ago, accompanied by their fledgling grandchildren.

"Why have you come, demon?" Arella demanded.

"You know full well why I have come. Those creatures you defend have been foreseen to be my downfall. It was my purpose in resurrecting that fool human Slade that he would remedy this problem for me!" Trigon bellowed.

"Look your last, monster!" Arella screamed. Toby and Olivia clutched their grandmother tightly as she levitated above the creature. Toby felt the energy in his little body surge as Arella began to generate what would become the final blow. It took every ounce of energy between her and her grandchildren, but the end result was a devastatingly large bolt of telekinetic power that Arella drove down through the demon. The resulting pulse rattled the buildings and temple and brought all the people of Azarath to the ground.

The monster destroyed, Arella took her twin grandchildren into her arms and wilted to the ground, falling unconscious as soon as they touched down to the earth.

* * *

When Robin walked into the kitchen, Beast Boy looked up from the bowl of oatmeal he was trying very hard not to fall asleep in.

"What's wrong? Why aren't you with Raven?" Beast Boy demanded. Then his eyes grew wide. "No…oh, God, no…" Robin grabbed hold of Beast Boy's shoulders and forced him to look at him.

"Hold up! Raven's fine! She woke up for me and she's conscious. Finish your oatmeal. She's gonna want to see you pretty quick. You won't believe what she's got to say," Robin said, leaving Beast Boy to balance himself. A bit in shock, Beast Boy finished his cereal in record speed and headed down to the med bay. When he arrived, Raven's bed was empty. He was about to call for her when he heard a voice behind him.

"Looking for me?" Raven said, a calm smile playing with her pretty features. Beast Boy turned and dropped his jaw. Raven was not just out of bed, but she was dressed in a costume Beast Boy had not seen since they were teens. It was startlingly white, and there was a new jewel on Raven's forehead. Beast Boy pulled her into his arms and kissed her, so relieved that she was alive. When he pulled back a bit, he lightly ran his fingers over the new gem.

"It's blue…" Beast Boy mused. Raven smiled. She explained to Beast Boy what she had told Robin and then added, "I hardly recognized myself when I looked in the mirror. I've worn that jewel for so long I didn't even look like myself without one. So I decided blue was in order. Do you like it?"

"Of course I like it," Beast Boy murmured, stroking her hair and then kissing her again. "Are you feeling up to going to get our children, Mrs. Logan?" Raven smiled at the tone of his voice.

"Of course I am! I'm free of that monster…if you willed it, I could do anything!" Raven replied. Beast Boy wasn't ready for such enthusiasm from her. He smiled in surprise and kissed her again. He could definitely get used to this.

Raven accompanied him back up to the living area, where the others had gathered.

"Let's finish this," Robin said with a smile.

Raven wasted no time creating the portal that would lead her teammates to Azarath, but she wasn't prepared for what she saw on the other side. The people were still picking themselves up off the ground, and Raven nearly panicked when she spotted her mother and the twins lying on the ground.

"Arella!" Beast Boy cried.

"My babies!" Raven cried, following him. The two knelt beside their family members and Toby lifted his head.

"Mommy? Is that you?" he asked, looking Raven up and down.

"Yes, honey, it's me," Raven replied, pulling Toby into her arms. Beast Boy gently rolled Olivia out of Arella's grasp and the little one coughed back to life.

"Hi, daddy," she grinned. Beast Boy laughed as he held her close, kissing her face and head. Raven set Toby on his feet as Arella came around.

"Mom? Are you okay?" Raven asked, supporting Arella as she sat up.

"We've done it…he's gone…the demon cannot harass you ever again, my daughter," Arella murmured, stroking Raven's face.

"You did this?" Raven whispered, tears of concern rolling down her cheek.

"I had help," Arella replied, chuckling as Toby and Olivia snuggled against her. When the Titans located Arella's cottage, Jason heard his family coming and bolted out the door, straight into Robin's waiting arms. Robin kissed his wife and son over and over, grateful to have them back. Similar small microcosms were occurring all over the cottage. Speedy wound his arms around Torque as she held Aidan, Cyborg wept as he picked up his son again, only to surrender him to Jinx seconds later. Raven lifted Caleb into her arms and rocked him a bit as he cried. Emily, running across the room, leapt and landed smack in her father's arms.

"I missed you, daddy," Emily cooed, kissing her father's cheek. Toby and Olivia clung to their parents as they sat down for a moment to rest and recover from the separation they had all been through. The noise in the cottage was the equivalent of a block party as the emotions between parents and children became equalized. Once the kids were calm and the parents satisfied, Arella herself created the portal that sent the Titans back to their home. The last one through the portal was Raven, who threw her arms around Arella and held her.

"Thank you, Mamma," Raven cried. Arella smiled as she looked into her daughter's dark blue eyes.

"You just remember to bring those grandchildren of mine back to visit—often. None of this staying away for years at a time stuff," Arella said, sniffling away tears. Raven nodded.

"I love you, Mamma," Raven murmured. Arella's look of shock was priceless.

"You've never told me that before," Arella stammered. She embraced Raven again and then wept as she disappeared through the portal. When it closed, Arella was left to her empty cottage again, but her heart was filled to bursting—another dimension away, she had an entire family that she could look forward to seeing now and grandchildren to watch. Arella picked up a broom and hummed as she began to sweep the floors of the cottage. Perhaps now things would work out after all.

* * *

Back at the other Tower, the exhilarated Titans shared hugs of their own.

"Let's celebrate!" Beast Boy cried.

"Minus the alcohol this time, please?" suggested Robin. His teammates laughed.

"Spoil sport!"

"What's wrong, Rob, got a little too trashed the other night?"

"You could say that," chuckled Robin. As the focus of the conversation changed to making plans, Robin pulled Speedy aside, his heart pounding against his ribs.

"Can we talk? In private? I need someone to talk to and you need to hear it." Robin said in Speedy's ear. Speedy looked a bit confused, but followed him into the other room anyway.

"It's just a couple of Bacardi's, Robin. It won't kill you," Speedy chuckled when Robin shut the door. Robin smiled for a moment. Speedy was almost as bad a party animal as Beast Boy.

"No, it's not about the party. There's something you need to know about your sister," Robin replied. Speedy sat down. He was unprepared for what Robin had to say.

"You're lying!" Speedy shouted, standing and knocking the chair over in his haste.

"How long have we known each other? Why would I lie to you?" Robin cried, standing with him. "Look at me. Look me in the eye. I am not lying to you." Speedy rubbed his face with his hands. He wasn't sure what to do with this. Plainly, Aries was at fault. He had seen how many drinks Robin had had compared to her. Just like most of the other guys, Robin had been hammered.

"I…I didn't think she was capable of something like this," Speedy stammered.

"I'm sorry, Speedy," Robin replied.

"About what? You were sloshed, just like the rest of us. She took advantage of you and that's not right," Speedy said, turning away from Robin and biting his lip. He admired that Robin had had the guts to come to him—but now what? How was he supposed to handle this? Robin resumed his seat and sat forward, letting his head fall forward into his hands.

"What's wrong?" Speedy asked.

"Star…how am I ever going to tell her? I can't keep it from her—she could find out from someone else and I'd never hear the end of it. Or worse, I will hear the end of it: she'll leave me and take Jason with her." Robin moaned.

"You really think she wouldn't understand?" Speedy asked.

"Starfire is more emotional than Raven and Torque put together and more sensitive than Terra. I'm in deep shit…" Robin replied.

"I've got an idea. I think Torque could take it if we told her. She could help us tell Star," Speedy suggested. Then he smirked. "The advantages of having more than one family in one tower." Robin looked up. "Do you really think it will work?"

"We won't know unless we try," Speedy answered, clapping Robin on the back. "Buck up. This isn't the end."

"I hope you're right," Robin groaned.


	10. Now and Forever I Pledge My Heart

**_Chapter 10: Now and Forever I Pledge My Heart  
_**

"Torque!" Speedy called out into the hall. Torque peeked her head around the corner and grinned.

"What are you up to back there, you two? Plotting some hare-brained practical joke? Hey, we decided we're going to Alien Warehouse so that the kids can come along and we can all still have a drink with dinner….well, all except Cy…big guy decided he's gonna drive," Torque babbled as she wandered down the hall toward them. Torque's expression turned serious as she let Speedy pull her into the room.

"What's going on?" Torque asked. When Speedy told her what had happened between Robin and Aries, Speedy offered her the chair he had been sitting on.

"That's not possible!" Torque muttered in disbelief. "Aries is so sweet…I…I was planning to make her my maid of honor at our wedding…" Then her expression changed completely.

"We need you to help us tell Starfire. Robin's not sure how she'll take it," Speedy explained.

"It's not Star you should be worried about. It's Aries. You know Star's gonna go ballistic about this…" Torque replied, looking at Speedy.

"You really think she'd go after Aries?" Speedy asked.

"Oh, please. If any of the other girls on the team so much as touched you they'd be missing a whole hand. You're mine, and any other woman is going to have to answer to me. Starfire's no different. If anything, she's worse. Tamaranians are so emotional by nature …Aries better have a great hiding place. But let's not ruin this night for the kids. We'll deal with it when we get back. For now, Rob, stay clear of Aries. Just concentrate on Star and Jason, okay?" Torque said. Robin swallowed hard and nodded. He accepted a hug from Torque and another firm pat on the back from Speedy and the three rejoined the rest of the team.

Robin miraculously managed to relax at dinner. He laughed with the others when Toby and Olivia told the team about how Toby amplified Olivia's telekinesis. He chuckled under his breath as Speedy and Mammoth tried to teach Mas and Menos a few choice words in English. He smiled as he observed Raven, his best friend in the world, openly cuddling her baby and lavishing affection on her grateful husband.

The night went so well, but Robin still remembered that he had an important discussion to have with Starfire. Robin still had a grin on his face as he carried Jason down the hall and into his room. Little Jason Todd was fast asleep, and Robin realized that he was probably the spitting image of his own parents right now. He couldn't remember the number of times they must have carried him to bed, changed his clothes whilst he slept, and then tucked him into bed with a kiss. Robin accomplished all of this with Jason and then sat down on the edge of the bed. He lightly stroked Jason's hair back from his eyes and the little one awakened.

"Daddy?"

"It's me, son," Robin murmured.

"I had a bad dream," Jason replied.

"What did you dream about?" Robin asked.

"Mother said my grandpa and grandma died when they fell off a wire at the circus…Daddy, I don't want you and Mother to die, too!"

Robin succumbed to the tears he had buried with the memories of his parents' deaths and pulled his young son into his arms.

"That won't ever happen, son. Your mother and I love you, and we're not going anywhere," Robin reassured him.

"But…what if you and Mother fall?" Jason argued.

"Jason, Mother can fly. She would catch herself. As for me—check this out," Robin replied, pulling Jason out of bed as he stood and turned around. With the click of a button, Robin's cape became a hang glider and Jason giggled.

"You see now? We love you, Jason, and not even falling could stop us from being here for you forever," Robin said, letting the cape go limp and then tucking Jason back into bed. Jason squeezed Robin tight for a moment and then smiled when Robin kissed the top of his head.

"I love you, Daddy," Jason yawned. Robin stood, pulled the covers up to Jason's chin, and kissed his forehead as he nodded off again.

"I love you, too, son," Robin said softly. With this, he quietly left the room, shutting the door behind him.

When he turned, Speedy and Torque were waiting for him. They looked somber and Torque only needed to say two words to make Robin gasp for air.

"She knows."

* * *

When Robin emerged into the living area, lightning flashed, illuminating the rain-spattered windows and the silhouette of his princess bride, her arms crossed over her chest and her chin held high in pain-filled anger. Aries had told Starfire her version of the story and it didn't include Robin's innocence. Robin trembled as he spoke. 

"Star? Honey?" Robin began.

"Do not 'honey' me. You have done the cheating on me!" Starfire shouted.

"You've got it all wrong, Starfire!" Robin cried, taking a step toward her. He was halted by a starbolt that nearly took out his feet.

"Do not come closer. I do not wish to speak to you!" Starfire cried. Robin wilted. This was his worst nightmare.

"You may not want to speak to him, but you'll listen to me," Torque said, taking a few bold steps forward. "Star, Aries lied to you."

"No!"

"It's true!" Speedy added. "She knew that Robin was too inebriated to know what he was doing. She took advantage of him, Star!"

"I do not believe you!" Star shouted. "Aries told me you did the 'making love' to her. You taught me that husbands and wives only do the 'making love' to each other! You lied to me!"

"No!" Robin finally yelled back. "Starfire, I love you!" Thunder shook the Tower, but Starfire wouldn't budge.

"If you did, you would have told Aries 'no'."

Robin sank to his knees and took a deep breath.

"Star, when was the last time you took off your wedding ring?" Robin asked, tears in his eyes.

"I have never removed it, Robin, but after tonight I may consider it," Starfire spat back.

"Look on the inside…please…" Robin asked. Starfire furrowed her brows and pulled the bauble from her finger, using the light of one of her starbolts to see. There was something inscribed on the inside of the band that Starfire had never seen before.

"_Now and forever I pledge my heart to you alone. I love you, and I always will." _

Robin forced himself to look up at the astonished look on her face. He recited the line from memory.

"Now and forever I pledge my heart to you alone. I love you, and I always will. You are my wife, Starfire and if you decide to leave me now, you take my heart with you. Without that heart I'll die…I'll die without you, Starfire, please don't leave me!" Robin begged. Torque and Speedy took a few steps back. They hadn't expected this. Starfire slowly took a few timid steps toward her husband as he collapsed to all fours on the floor, unable to hold himself up against the weight on his heart. Starfire knelt beside him and gingerly placed her arms around him and her head on his shoulders. Robin shuddered as he wept, reaching up to wind his arms around Starfire.

"I…I told her she made a mistake…I t-told her that I loved you and Jason and I-I could never betray you…Oh, God, I'd die if I lost you!" Robin murmured as he clutched Starfire close.

"You have not lost me, Robin. I believe you now. I was wrong to doubt you," Starfire replied. Robin blinked back some of his tears and shook his head.

"No—I'm the one who owes you an apology. If I had been more responsible and come straight to bed instead of lingering upstairs here it might have been prevented," Robin replied.

"The fact remains that it did happen. You came to me with the intention of telling me about it and I didn't even give you a chance to explain. I love you, my husband. Let us go to bed now. We've had a long day," Starfire said, tangling her fingers through Robin's coal-black hair. Robin, by way of an answer, pulled Starfire's face to his and kissed her with every ounce of his grateful, relieved heart.

With this, Speedy hugged Torque a little tighter, kissed her, and the two left their teammates in privacy in the otherwise empty living room. Once out in the hallway, Speedy swept Torque up into his arms and carried her.

"Practicing for our wedding, are you?" Torque giggled.

"Well, you know Rob and Star are gonna go back to their room and have the best make-up sex they've ever had. Our room's right next door. Let's show them how it's done," Speedy murmured in her ear, nibbling on the lobe as he walked. Torque was still laughing when she and Speedy's bedroom door closed behind them.

* * *

Jinx walked quietly back into the living room area of Titans Tower the next morning, trying very hard not to alert anyone to her presence. She had Reese with her and the tyke squirmed out of her arms and ran for the wide open living area, locating his blocks and carefully leaning back until he softly plopped down onto the floor. Jinx was getting a glass of water when she heard a soft grunt and the shift of weight on the couch. She looked up in surprise as Raven worked her way into a sitting position, finished fixing her uniform back together and looked over at her. Raven had been lying on the couch, nursing Caleb and Jinx hadn't even seen her. 

"Where have you been all morning? Cy had a question for you about--" Raven stopped mid-sentence as she stood and carried a sleeping Caleb with her into the kitchen. "Jinx, what's wrong?"

"I had an appointment in town this morning," Jinx answered simply. She refused to meet Raven's eyes, but Raven could already see the fear seated deep inside. She knew that look—she had only been that kind of afraid once in her life: when she discovered she was having more than one baby.

"Jinx…are you…?" Raven began, not sure how to gently approach the subject.

"I might…she said I…might not be s…strong enough to…I might not have enough…room…I…"

Raven deposited her baby into the nearby cradle and then folded a trembling Jinx into her arms. Jinx began to cry, relenting and allowing Raven to hold her. Raven shepherded her to the couch and sat down, drying Jinx's tears and patiently waiting for Jinx to calm herself before asking again what was troubling her.

"Jinx, are you having twins?" Raven asked. Jinx shook her head. Raven's head gained a curious tilt. "Then…what…?" Raven accidentally allowed a soft gasp to escape her as realization dawned on her.

"If you're not having twins you're…oh Azar…three? Jinx, are you having triplets?" Raven asked softly. Jinx's eyes welled with tears again and she nodded. Raven pulled Jinx into her arms and held her as she cried again. After several seconds, Torque arrived back, bringing with her a flurry of noise. Raven recognized the voices of her children and both she and Jinx got up as Torque proceeded into the room, trying to argue with Toby and Olivia as she carried Aidan. Aidan was crying and Emily was scrupulously silent, following along behind this tumult with wide-eyed fear. Emily spotted Raven and ran ahead of the group, throwing herself into Raven's arms.

"What happened?" Raven demanded. Toby and Olivia looked like they had been through an outdoor combat practice. Both of the twins were smudged with dirt and grass stains, Toby's knees were scraped and one of them bled a bit. Olivia had sustained more damage, receiving scrapes on her arms and face and her knuckle bleeding.

"I had to go pick up the kids early because they started a fight at the daycare!" Torque yelled.

"That big kid started it!" Olivia squealed. "He called Aidan a bad word!"

"You didn't expect me to just stand there, did you? Nobody hits my sister and gets away with it!" Toby yelled.

"Don't you take that tone with me, young man!" Torque warned.

"That guy didn't fight fair!" Jason added. "He was bigger than us and he tried to hurt Olivia!"

Raven sighed. So much for teaching the kids to socialize with their peers. By the time Raven managed to calm the kids down, Torque had left the room with Aidan clutched in her arms.

* * *

After getting Aidan cleaned up, Torque allowed him to play in his room and then returned to her own. The brunette super heroine flopped down onto her bed and started to cry. She and Speedy's wedding was to be that weekend and this day had been more stress than they needed. A few minutes went by before a little voice interrupted her misery. 

"Mommy?"

Torque rolled over and Aidan climbed up onto the bed with his blanket in his hand. He cuddled into Torque's embrace and Torque hugged him close.

"Mommy, what's bastard mean?"

* * *

"He called Aidan a what?" Raven cried. 

"That's what I said! I told him that Aidan wasn't one of those and he said all kinds of mean things about Auntie Torque too!" Olivia cried as Raven cleaned up her hand.

"Yeah! He said Auntie should have kept her legs closed! What did he mean, Mamma?" Toby added as he finished changing clothes.

"Hold that thought. Where is your father?" Raven grumbled, leaving the twins with Emily and starting toward the gym.

Workout time was important bonding time for the Titan men. Trying to out-bench press each other was a daily ritual—one that Cyborg always won, but none the less a ritual. Typically, this time was not interrupted by any of the girls, but today, Raven boldly walked into the middle of this male bonding session with her jaw set in determination.

"Raven? What's wrong?" Robin asked, when he saw her.

"The kids are home early," Raven answered, provoking the guys to follow her. Once the turbulence died down, Raven and Beast Boy went one way with Emily and the twins and Speedy headed up to the room he shared with Torque to find her and Aidan.

* * *

After several phone calls and talks with the kids, Olivia and Toby sat quietly. 

"We're sorry, Mommy and Daddy," Olivia murmured.

"We didn't mean to cause trouble," Toby added. Beast Boy and Raven cuddled their kids.

"We know you meant well. We just need you two and Jason to fight with your heads first. Your fists should be a last resort," Beast Boy said, tousling Toby's hair.

"Okay, Daddy," Toby said, leaning into Beast Boy's chest.

"But what if it's a really bad guy?" said Olivia, her wide blue eyes searching her mother's violet ones. Beast Boy looked at his wife and grinned before he kissed the top of Toby's head.

"If it's a really bad guy, Olivia, Mommy and Daddy will be right behind you to back you up," Beast Boy replied, pulling them all close.

* * *

The scene that Speedy walked into broke his heart. Aidan had crept out of Torque's grasp and was sitting beside her on the bed, stroking her hair with his little hands and murmuring, "It's okay, mommy…I sorry…don't cry, mommy…" Aidan saw Speedy and immediately crawled off the bed and went to him. 

"Mommy crying," Aidan reported as Speedy picked him up.

"I see that, buddy," Speedy said softly, kissing Aidan's temple and moving to place Aidan back on the bed and to crawl up onto the bed himself, sliding down beside Torque and winding his arms around her. Torque rolled in his arms, burying her face in his chest.

"He called my baby--"

"I heard. It's okay, honey, everything's gonna be okay," Speedy replied, hugging her close.

"I've tried to tell myself that for years…nothing's ever okay…every time I think I'm ahead of the game then something else jumps up--"

"And when it does, I'll be there to help you beat it back down," Speedy replied. Torque shook her head.

"You don't get it—this isn't about you—it's about me…this is something I have to do!" Torque wept.

"You're right—it isn't about me. It's about us, now. You've always been alone, Torque. Ever since you joined the Titans you've struggled with this need to be independent. You trust your friends and you work so well with the rest of the team, but on a personal level you hide yourself. I mean, it took me a month to get you to tell me when your birthday was!" Speedy explained. Torque laughed a little at his exaggeration.

"I—it's just that…every time I invest my heart in something, whether its family, partners, or love…something always manages to ruin it. I've just learned to guard my heart. I can't seem to get over it," Torque wept. "Now people are calling me a whore in front of their children? What am I supposed to do about that?"

"You're not alone anymore, Torque," Speedy said, sweeping her hair out of her face with his hand. "You don't have to go it alone. This weekend, I make you my wife and Aidan my son. For better or worse, I'll be here for you, Torque. I love you. Trust me and the others to help you work through the trust issues. We're not going anywhere, baby. We're here now, and we will be forever."

"Forever? Is there really such a thing?" Torque sniffled. Speedy grinned as he pulled Aidan over to lie down between them and then held them close.

"You're looking at it, honey."

With this, Torque kissed Speedy passionately and snuggled back down into his arms, pulling her dark blue blanket over them. Perhaps this was finally the beginning of forever.


	11. Nothing On Earth

**_Chapter 11: Nothing on Earth_**_  
_

_The song lyrics the guys sing at Torque and Speedy's wedding reception is "Can't Stop This Thing We've Started" by Bryan Adams._

_

* * *

_**_  
_**Speedy swallowed hard as he looked into the eyes of the brunette before him. She glowed with the sunlight streaming down into the church as he made his vows to her.

"Virginia Camellia Hamilton, I love you. Today is a very special day. Long ago you were just a dream and a prayer. This day like a dream come true the Lord Himself has answered that prayer. For today, Ginny, you as my joy become my crown. I thank Jesus for the honor of going through time with you. Thank you for being what you are to me. With our future as bright as the promises of God, I will care for you, honor and protect you. I lay down my life for you, Ginny, my friend, my teammate, my partner and my love. Today I give to you me and I hope and pray that you know only one thing: nothing on earth is as beautiful as you," Speedy said, keeping his voice steady up until the last line, the impact of which brought tears to Speedy's eyes. Robin smiled at the bride and groom from his place as Speedy's best man, and then looked over their shoulders at Raven, the beaming matron of honor, who discreetly swept a tear away from her eyes as Torque took a deep breath and spoke vows of her own.

"Roy Oliver Harper, I love you and I know you love me. I am confident that God has chosen you to be my husband. It is my prayer and desire that you will find in me the helper that God designed especially for you, and in confidence I will submit myself unto you as unto our Lord. Therefore, Roy, I pledge to you my life as a faithful and loving friend, teammate, partner and wife. Whither thou goest I will go, whither thou lodgest I will lodge, Thy people shall be my people, And thy God my God. You have become for me what I never thought I'd find: you have come to be my forever and for that, I will never cease to cherish and honor you until my dying day and beyond," Torque said, losing the battle to reign back tears of her own. The words of the priest hardly registered as Speedy and Torque drowned in one another's eyes. They murmured Amen on command and then Speedy pulled his bride into his arms and kissed her, venting the passion he had been holding back. Applause erupted from their guests, teammates, friends and family, from the Justice League to their fellow Titans, family, and friends. Speedy took Torque's hand and turned to face their audience.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you Mr. and Mrs. Roy Oliver Harper!" the priest announced, finally conceding to a chuckle as Speedy swept Torque high up into his arms and carried her back up the aisle and out of the worship space, quickly followed by the remaining Titans and the kids. When they emerged from the church, they were showered in birdseed from the rest of the team. Speedy charged down the steps, leaving Robin and Raven to walk more slowly and laugh as the bride and groom made a dive for their car. Raven tucked her hand into the crook of Robin's arm and smiled as he patted her hand and walked her carefully down the steps. Beast Boy and Starfire met them at the bottom of the steps where Robin lightly kissed Raven's cheek before the two went to their respective spouses and climbed into the other cars that would take them all to the reception.

Hours later, as the reception went on, the male Titans, their ties loosened and their collar buttons undone, took the microphones and sang karaoke to the happy bride and groom.

_"Can't stop this thing we've started!  
You've gotta know it's all right!  
Can't stop this course we've plotted!"_ the guys sang. Torque and Speedy, along with their other guests, laughed as they sang, making as big a show of this stage performance as they possibly could. Between giggles, Torque leaned over to her new husband and whispered, for perhaps the fiftieth time that day, that she loved him. Speedy smiled at this and kissed her. Aidan, planted firmly on his mother's lap, witnessed this display of affection and giggled.

"Eww!" he squealed. "Daddy!"

"Oh, and we love you, too, squirt," Speedy teased, ruffling Aidan's hair and kissing the top of his head. Torque laughed as Aidan squirmed and joined in, kissing Aidan's cheeks. After Aidan had sufficiently been kissed, Torque contemplated the events of the week. Wednesday had been an important day for them. Not only had this been the day that the pair had secured a marriage license, but that was the day that Speedy adopted Aidan, and thus officially became the boy's father. Torque had never been so proud of Speedy.

After the reception ended, Torque very gently passed her sleeping son to Terra, trying hard to smile as she and Speedy escaped to tiptoe out of the Tower for their honeymoon vacation. Once the pair was settled on their plane to Puerto Rico, Torque was still dabbing tears from her eyes.

"It's okay, honey," Speedy said, sliding his arm around her and hugging her close. "Terra and Aqualad know what they're doing. In any case, it'll be good practice for them. Their wedding is next, after all," Speedy teased. Torque smiled and nodded. Ever since the day Terra had lost control and beaten Olivia, Terra had attended depression and anger management classes, parenting classes that Aqualad had attended with her, and she had even submitted to several weeks of only being able to spend time with the kids under the direct supervision of one of the other Titans. Terra had at first refused when Torque and Speedy asked her to watch Aidan for them, telling them she didn't feel worthy to be in charge of him. But all inhibition fled when Aidan charged across the room and flung himself into Terra's arms, declaring that he loved her. Terra had wept, lifted the little one into her arms and accepted.

"I hope he's okay," Torque said, sniffling away the last of her tears. "We've never been away from him for more than a few hours since he was born."

"He'll be fine, sweetheart," Speedy insisted, kissing Torque's forehead. "What could happen?"

* * *

That night, after Terra had tucked Aidan in, she returned to the living area to find Aqualad languidly sitting back on the couch, his tie undone and collar buttons open. He popped his shiny dress shoes off his feet as Terra came back into the room and curled up beneath his arm. 

"Well, are you ready to do the same thing at the end of next month?" Aqualad mused, closing his eyes against the encroaching dusk glimmering outside the windows. Terra smiled and snuggled closer.

"I've been ready for a while. I love you, Garth," Terra replied, drawing a smile from her fiancé. Aqualad kissed the top of Terra's head and pulled her a bit closer before he said, "I love you, too, Terra." Several minutes of companionable silence followed this before a small sound invaded the quiet.

"Aidan?" Terra called. "Is that you?" Plainly miserable, little Aidan stumbled in out of the hallway.

"Mommy and Daddy are gone!" he wailed. Tears flooded his cheeks despite constant attempts to wipe them away.

"Of course they are, honey, they're on their honeymoon. They'll be back next week, sweetheart," Terra replied, going over to kneel beside the five year old. She already knew why he was crying. Aidan was used to being able to go and crawl into bed with his parents when he was lonely or afraid, but tonight he had gone in and found their bed cold and empty. Poor Aidan Alexander Hamilton Harper was feeling virtually abandoned. Terra lifted Aidan into her arms and carried him back over to the couch to sit with she and Aqualad. When Terra sat back down on the couch, she placed Aidan on her lap and wiped his tears away. Then she looked at him and asked him, "Aidan, do you remember what your mamma said that you are?" Aidan swallowed hard and nodded.

"Mommy's treasure," Aidan mumbled.

"That's right," Aqualad added, leaning into the conversation. "And I know your mom. She would never leave her treasure all alone forever."

"But, I want my mommy," Aidan murmured, his eyes welling up again.

"We could just call them so that he can say goodnight?" Terra suggested. Aqualad cocked an eyebrow. "They aren't going to answer," Aqualad smirked as Terra dialed.

"We at least have to try," Terra replied, allowing the phone to ring.

"You know that we're interrupting them, right?" Aqualad snickered.

"You're not helping," Terra said. Another ring passed and Torque finally picked up.

"Hello?" said a sleepy voice.

"Hey, honeymooners, how's Puerto Rico?" Terra asked cheerfully. She could hear Speedy murmuring in the background.

"Mmm….it's so beautiful here, Terra. Are you sure you and Aqualad don't wanna skip the mountain lodge you two have planned and go to the same place?" Torque teased. Terra smiled. "No thanks. We'd rather be among as much of the elements as possible," she replied. "Look, the reason I'm calling is because someone here can't sleep and needs to say goodnight." There was a soft but audible gasp on the other end of the phone line. Terra grinned again.

"Well…what are you waiting for? Put him on!" Torque said, sitting up in bed. Terra gently handed the phone to Aidan, who timidly held the object to his ear.

"Mommy?" he murmured. Torque smiled and replied, "Hi, baby. What's wrong?"

"Where are you, Mommy?" Aidan asked. Torque felt a lump forming in her throat.

"Mommy and Daddy will be home before you know it, honey," Torque said, unwillingly shedding a tear. Speedy sat up and smoothed his hand over her bare back, looking at her with concern.

"Come home, Mommy!" Aidan begged, starting to cry again. Torque couldn't manage a reply, and covered her eyes with her hands as she, too, began to cry. Speedy gingerly took the phone from her hands and kissed her cheek before speaking into the receiver.

"Aidan?"

"Hi, Daddy," Aidan murmured.

"Hey, sport. Listen. Do you remember when Mom and I talked to you about today? We told you that we were going to go away for a little while and that Auntie Terra and Uncle Aqualad were going to take care of you. Do you remember that?" Speedy asked.

"Yeah," Aidan admitted softly.

"Okay." Speedy said gently. "Then here's what I want you to do. I want you to go to bed and pray for mommy and daddy. Then, in the morning, I want you to draw us a picture and leave it on mommy and daddy's bed, okay? When we get home, we can look at all the pictures you left for us, okay?" Aidan swallowed hard and nodded.

"Okay, daddy," he replied. When Aidan handed the phone back to Terra, Speedy explained what he had asked Aidan to do.

"Thanks," Terra said. "I wasn't quite sure what I was going to be able to do to comfort him for a minute there."

"I think the key word is distraction," Speedy said, chuckling a little. "He loves to draw and color. Get him to play with the other kids, too. He's old enough to follow Emily and the twins around now. You could even help him keep track of how many days till we come home on the calendar."

"Will do. You two have fun now and don't worry about a thing," Terra replied.

"He's in great hands. Thanks again for watching him for us, Terra. Give him another big hug and a kiss from us and then put him back in his bed," Speedy said. After Terra hung up the phone, she did precisely what Torque and Speedy had prescribed. When this was done and Aidan was finally asleep, Terra and Aqualad retired to bed.

* * *

_A/N: Forgive me for the short chapter. I promise much more interesting material for the concluding chapters of this volume. I will probably only go to 15 before moving to the next volume. Yes, Terra and Aqualad's wedding will be in this volume and maybe one more birth. Thanks for sticking with me, everyone!_


	12. Transfers and Tribulations

_**Chapter 12—Transfers and Tribulations **_

As the sun shone brilliantly in the sky and threw glittering stars over the rippling surface of the water below, three creatures raced side by side, gradually coming closer to the surface until the skin of the ocean ruptured, and two whales, accompanied by a man dressed in blue leapt from the depths and soared in a graceful arc over the water before crashing back into the dark blue depths.

The superheroine known as Terra soared over this scene and shook her head as she commanded the chunk of land she rode upon to dip lower.

"All right, playtime's over! It's time for lunch!" she shouted. Her husband smiled playfully and shot water at her before using the water to lift himself up high enough to climb up onto the rock with her.

"You've got to try that, honey. You have no idea just how exhilarating it is to come crashing back into the water with a whale on either side of you," Aqualad replied, flopping onto his back on the rock as she steered them back toward Titans Tower. The wind felt good for both of them as it whipped by. Before they knew it, Terra landed them on the roof of the tower, where the kids swam in the rooftop pool with Robin, Beast Boy and Speedy. Aqualad smiled as Beast Boy made the kids squeal by turning into various creatures. Aqualad didn't hesitate. He bounced from the diving board and executed a perfect cannonball into the water. The guys laughed, but Jinx didn't think it was so funny. She had been trying very gingerly to sink into the water and was subsequently splashed. Aqualad joined her on that side of the pool and he shyly apologized.

"Cyborg insisted that I come up and sit in the pool for a while. He said it might take some of the pressure off my back for a while," Jinx said, resting her hand on her already bulging midsection. Aqualad nodded, knowing that this pregnancy had been hard on the pink haired heroine.

"Let me help," Aqualad said, taking her right hand in his and then placing his left in the middle of her back. "Go on, lie back." Cautiously, Jinx did as she was told. She wobbled a bit, and choked on water from an unexpected splash, but after Aqualad erected a wall of water around them, Jinx relaxed and let Aqualad hold her.

"That's amazing…I didn't know water could do that!" she muttered, closing her eyes.

"It's the best therapy I know of," Aqualad said, smiling gently. Terra had watched this and smiled that her husband could be so sensitive to the needs of other people. Satisfied that all was well, she descended the stairs into the living area of the tower. Little did she know she was walking into a battle zone.

When Terra walked into the kitchen, a stream of water shot past her face, accompanied by sounds of laughter from two of her friends. What had begun as Torque and Raven preparing lunch had degraded into a full-on water fight. Torque had the sprayer from the kitchen sink and Raven used whatever she could reach with her powers to shield herself and occasionally used the water being shot at her to fire back. Both Raven and Torque were already soaking wet and laughing so hard that their cheeks were rosy. Terra smiled. Having known Raven long enough to remember, she knew that this kind of emotion had once been rare. Before Terra could contemplate this situation further, she found herself a human shield in Torque's effort's to fend off Raven's return attack. Terra gasped as she tried to duck, but got a face full of water anyway. She waited for Torque to fire again and then twisted, whipping an unsuspecting Torque directly into the line of fire. Once she was free, Terra summoned the sand from the kids' sandbox on the roof and Raven used her powers to lift the water from the sink. Between them, they swiftly made a human sand sculpture from their friend and then ran, heading back up to the roof laughing even harder. Torque followed, jumping into the pool right behind them as Raven shed her shoes and cloak, and Terra tossed aside her shoes and goggles. The guys and the three oldest kids had moved from the pool to the hot tub, so there was plenty of room in the water for the sudden splashdown. Torque came up for air, the sand washing easily out her hair, and came within inches of a familiar face.

"Hey, baby," Speedy murmured, slipping his arms around her.

"How's it going, hot stuff?" Torque bantered back. "Where did our son run off to?"

"He and Emily went downstairs to change and rest for a while. I suggested that they set the table for lunch, but I take it from the looks of the three of you that it didn't get done," Speedy teased. Torque tickled him for a moment and then wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling herself close enough to kiss him. After a sound, lingering kiss, Speedy still hung onto his wife, holding her close in his arms.

"So," Speedy asked. "What was for lunch before you ladies got into what must have been a very interesting battle in the kitchen?" Torque batted him in the shoulder and both of them laughed.

"Wanna come downstairs and help me finish it?" Torque asked, genuinely wanting his help but liking the idea of the added bonus of his company.

"Why not?" Speedy replied, sharing his towel with Torque as they got out of the pool.

Meanwhile, Beast Boy scooted aside to make room for Raven to slip into the hot tub with the rest of the group. Olivia got up and came to sit on her mother's lap, and Raven smiled. Beast Boy slid a hand around her waist and gently kissed her. Raven could tell that he was genuinely happy and it made her happy, too.

"What do you want for your anniversary, honey?" Beast Boy asked. Raven looked at her husband with undisguised pride. He had remembered that their wedding anniversary was little more than 10 days away.

"That's our cue to leave, son," Robin said, getting up and helping Jason up out of the hot tub. The Logans laughed. When Robin and Jason had gone, Raven leaned over and whispered in Beast Boy's ear. Beast Boy's cheeks and the tips of his ears turned as crimson as they could turn as she spoke. Toby rolled his eyes and Olivia gestured for them to make an exit of their own.

"We're gonna go in and dry off," Toby said, holding Olivia's hand so that she could get up the steps out of the hot tub. Their parents nodded and then went back to their conversation. Aqualad had long ago helped Jinx back into the Tower, so now Beast Boy and Raven were alone.

"I think I can handle that," Beast Boy murmured, replying to her whispered request.

"I know you can, Tiger," she replied, stroking his face. Subconsciously, Beast Boy purred and leaned into her hand.

"I love you, so much," Beast Boy said, smiling as Raven moved to sit astride his thighs. In this more intimate position Raven ran her hands through his hair, using her nails to gently massage his scalp, a treatment she knew he liked. Beast Boy looked up at her and smiled softly. He enjoyed this quiet time with her without speaking until Torque called up the stairway that lunch was ready.

* * *

Once lunch was finished, the amused Titans took their children to put them to bed for a well-earned nap. Several of them hardly made it through their meals without falling asleep in their plates. With this accomplished, the adults settled back into the living room; Robin had something to say.

"I've been doing some thinking," Robin began, but before he could continue, Speedy grabbed the opportunity.

"Did it hurt?" he quipped. The others laughed and Beast Boy leaned across to share a high-five with him. Robin simply laughed with them and smiled as he continued.

"I had a talk with Bumblebee and we came to the conclusion that it would be beneficial to balance out the teams a little," Robin said.

"What are we talking here, Rob?" Speedy asked.

"We'd like up to five members of this team to transfer to Titans East," Robin said. "That's what we're talking. We decided that it would be best to give you the opportunity to voluntarily transfer rather than choosing who goes and who stays." Robin tried hard not to avert his eyes. This was plainly a difficult thing to do. What team leader liked having to ask his best friends to leave? After a few seconds of silence, there was a soft murmuring among the group as the couples debated amongst themselves. After several minutes of watching this, Robin twitched subconsciously as Starfire slipped her hand into his. He looked down from where he sat on the arm of the chair to see her sitting in it with her other hand on her expanding middle. Starfire lifted herself up into the air a bit, and Robin slid into the chair, grinning as she floated down into his lap.

"How are you feeling?" he whispered.

"Our baby is growing," Starfire whispered back. "I can feel it."

"That's good to hear," Robin continued. "Do you suppose we have a little girl in there this time?"

"Perhaps." Starfire replied. "It would be nice to have a daughter."

"I agree," Robin said, running his hand through Starfire's hair before he caught hold of her chin and guided her face to his.

By the time Robin and Star finished their kiss, the murmur among the others had died down.

"We'll go," Speedy began. "Aidan hasn't started school yet, so we wouldn't be uprooting him as much. Plus, my sister is already there. It will be nice to have my whole family under one roof."

"Agreed," Robin replied. He was glad that allowing them to choose to go was working. Seconds passed before Aqualad spoke up.

"We'll go, too," he said, winding an arm around Terra's shoulders. "It's closer to Atlantis and Shayeris if we should need to be there."

"We?" asked Torque. Terra rested her hand on Aqualad's knee and looked up at him, encouraging him to speak.

"I'm not really comfortable telling a lot of people this, but I was born with more mystical abilities than I've told you. I discovered that I have the ability to cast a spell that allows Terra to breathe underwater and tolerate the water pressure for a period of time. The Palace in Atlantis in actually in a cavern—there's air to breathe. She'd only need the ability to breathe under water in order to come and go. For the princess who would become my queen, it's the least I could do."

"I know Terra means a lot to you, Garth, but princess?" Beast Boy teased.

"Yeah, okay, I've got a secret, too," Terra mumbled. "As long as we're sharing…There's more to me than a homeless girl with a troubled past. My father was the King of a country called Markovia. I have two older brothers—one is Brion, and the other is ruling now, King Gregor—but because I was his illegitimate child, I was a disgrace and the parliament insisted that I was ineligible for the throne. So, yeah, I'm a princess by blood." Terra and Aqualad looked at their friends. The looks of shock and bewilderment slowly wore off and then disappeared when Beast Boy finally broke the silence.

"Cool! We have more royalty on the team than we thought!"

Laughter once again rang out in the tower. When the noise died down, Aqualad turned to Mammoth. "What do you say, Baran? Come with us?"

"Why me?" Mammoth replied. Though he tried hard to hide it, the team knew he had been dealing with a lot of repressed feelings of inadequacy. As this was going on, Toby and Olivia shuffled into the room, still waking up from their naps. Olivia curled up beside her father, while Toby crossed the room and climbed into Mammoth's lap. Mammoth looked down at Toby and wrapped a massive hand around him. Toby smiled and yawned as he situated himself on Mammoth's knee. Mammoth looked at his teammates. The Titans knew that Mammoth shared a special kinship with Toby, but they also knew that because of his reputation as a villain, that the people in Jump City had been reluctant to trust him.

"Bumblebee said she could use some extra muscle power. You're the best candidate I know of," Robin added.

"What's going on?" Jason asked, joining the group.

"We're making some pretty big decisions here, buddy," Robin replied as Jason flopped into a bean bag chair.

"I'll go," Mammoth said finally. "It'll be good for me to branch out. A new place like Steel City might be just what I need."

"Are you leaving us, Uncle Mammoth?" Toby asked, looking up at him with his wide blue eyes. Mammoth swallowed hard.

"Yes. I'm going to go help Auntie Bumblebee and her team," Mammoth replied.

Olivia snapped to attention at this. She immediately quit her father's side and crossed the room with Jason to join Toby and throw her arms around Mammoth. Emily and Aidan arrived on the scene and both joined the huddle of little arms around the massive Titan.

"Don't go, Uncle Mammoth!" Emily wept. The gentle hulk swallowed his tears.

Mammoth's lip trembled when he noticed how big Emily and Aidan were getting. When they were babies, both of them had been able to comfortably sleep in his hand at once. Now they had grown so much that the two could barely share his hand sitting side by side.

"Who'll play Marco Polo with us?" Aidan asked.

"You promised you'd teach me to sneak up on a bad guy!" Jason cried.

"You can't go—I'm a part of you," Toby said, tears sliding down his face.

"And you're part of me. I won't be whole without you."

Mammoth carefully placed each child back on his or her feet and then stood and went to the door.

"I'm going. You'll all be all right…without me. Everything's going to be fine," Mammoth said, pain evident in his voice. He paused here only a moment and then left the room. The parents gathered their mourning children close and held them. They didn't know what to say. When Aidan found out that he was going to be moving, too, he started to cry again.

"Mommy, I don't wanna go," Aidan mumbled.

"But, Sport, listen," Speedy said, using his thumb to brush away Aidan's tears. "We're moving to be on Auntie Bumblebee's team, too. Uncle Mammoth is coming with us." At this, Aidan perked up considerably. He clapped his little hands and threw his arms around his father's neck.

"I'll go talk to him," Jinx volunteered, slowly getting up off the couch and making her way down the hall. If he would listen to anyone, it would most likely be her. After everything they had been through, no one knew him better than she. It was decided that day that the transfers would take place in one month.


	13. Deadly Reunions

_**Chapter 13—Deadly Reunions **_

"Mom, can we stop and pick up dinner?" Olivia asked as she walked with her mother and siblings to the front passenger side of the T-UV, the Titans very own sport utility vehicle.

"Are you going to call home and ask everyone what they want and then remember it all?" Raven asked, hoping that the daunting task would discourage her 9 year old daughter.

"Sure," she replied. "Where's the communicator?" Raven shook her head as she reached into her cloak pocket with her free hand. Not finding it, she handed five month old Caleb to Olivia and continued the search for her communicator. As she did this, Toby occupied Emily by teaching her to play Rock-Paper-Scissors. The November chill made their breath rise in air when the kids laughed.

Raven and the kids paid little attention to the people bustling around them. Each one appeared to be simply another person. Because of this, Olivia was startled that much more when out of nowhere, a woman stepped out of the crowds and hit her mother across the back of her head with a street sign she had just uprooted from the concrete sidewalk. Olivia screeched for her siblings and quickly handed Caleb to Emily, who ran for the T-UV and crawled inside, locking the door behind her. Olivia and Toby turned to the scene before them.

"Who are you?" Toby shouted.

"What do you want!" Olivia screamed. Both of the kids stood poised to react as the woman laughed at them, standing menacingly over their fallen mother.

"Do you honestly think you can do anything about this, even if I told you?" she glowered. Olivia picked up several wooden crates with Toby's help and threw them at their adversary, but the force field she had erected around herself caused the crates to simply shatter. Seconds later, the woman disappeared with Raven, leaving her children alone on the cold sidewalks of Jump City.

"Toby, did you find mom's communicator?" Olivia asked, her voice still shaking.

"Here it is!" he said, pulling it from one of the shopping bags as he and Olivia slid into the car and re-locked the door.

"Where's mommy?" Emily asked, her voice barely audible above Caleb, who still sobbed in fear. Olivia picked Caleb out of his car seat and cradled him, convincing him that everything was okay and Toby pulled his little sister's shaking form into his arms and hugged her.

"Everything's gonna be okay, Emmy," Toby said, hugging her for a few more seconds before popping open the communicator.

"Calling all Titans! Calling all Titans!" Toby cried into the communicator. "Is anyone there?" Seconds later, the image of his father materialized on the screen.

"Toby, we had a talk about you kids playing with mom and dad's communicators. You can't go calling like that unless--"

"Dad, we need help! Some lady came out of nowhere and attacked mom!" Toby interrupted. Beast Boy froze.

"Where are you?" he demanded.

"Broadway and 16th street," Toby replied.

"Are you all right?" Beast Boy asked. Toby nodded. "We locked ourselves in the car. We're okay, dad, but mom…that lady…she…"

"It's okay, Toby, we're on our way. Just stay in the car. We'll find you, okay?" Beast Boy said, sensing that the stress was finally starting to catch up to his children.

"Dad, hurry," Olivia added. "Caleb won't stop crying."

"I'm on my way," Beast Boy repeated. "Just stay put."

Agonizingly long minutes passed before Beast Boy and Robin arrived to rescue the kids. The twins were the first ones out of the car when their father landed on the sidewalk and morphed out of his hawk form. Once he had ascertained the safety of all four of them, he looked up at Robin.

"What happened here?" Robin asked. The kids repeated the story in as much detail as they could.

"The twins probably saved Raven's life," Robin said. "They distracted the attacker and by just being there, they probably convinced her not to kill Raven in front of her children."

"But, what now?" Beast Boy asked. "So she took Raven somewhere else to kill her?" He was plainly angry, and he didn't realize the gravity of what he had said until he heard a soft gasp behind him. He turned around and looked into the eyes of all four of his children.

"Mom…mom's dead?" Toby asked.

"We didn't save mom?" Olivia added. "We failed our first mission?"

"Mommy?…" Emily murmured.

"Now you did it," Robin grumbled, folding his arms across his chest and waiting for Beast Boy to respond to his children.

"That's not…I didn't mean…kids…" Beast Boy struggled. Robin stepped in.

"We'll discuss it at home. C'mon, kids. Let's go home," Robin said, ending the conversation. The ride back to Titan's Tower was silent.

"We don't want you to jump to conclusions," Robin said when he and Beast Boy sat the Logan children down in the living room. "Your mom is out there somewhere and we're going to find her."

"That's right. It was wrong of me to say what I said. I'm just afraid for your mom. I love her, and I want her to be safe," Beast Boy added.

"So…mom's gonna be okay?" Toby asked tentatively.

"Your mom's a pretty strong woman. If we work together, she'll be just fine," Beast Boy reassured him. Toby nodded, and gestured for his sisters to come with him to their rooms. Beast Boy picked up Caleb and followed them. As they got to the door, Robin looked up and called for Olivia to come back.

"Yes?" she said as she returned to his side.

"I wanted you to know, Olivia, that I was really proud of how you took charge out there. It took a lot of guts to do what you and Toby did, and it was really cool," Robin said. Olivia smiled.

"Does that mean that we can come work out in the combat arena more often?"

she asked hopefully. It was Robin's turn to smile.

"Yeah. Definitely," Robin laughed, hugging Olivia. Olivia ran back across the room and up the stairs before looking back.

"Uncle Robin?"

"Yes?"

"Call me Hummingbird," Olivia replied. Robin smiled and nodded and the eldest Logan proceeded to her room.

* * *

That night, it took Beast Boy longer to get Caleb to go to sleep. Not that he could blame his infant son. Raven's disappearance had rattled them all. None of their known enemies had been directly responsible, and there had been no clues except for what his children had seen.

When Beast Boy finally rested his head on his pillow, sleep claimed him only minutes later. What sleep he got though, was filled with tumultuous nightmares of what could only be explained as his own fears of what could be happening to his wife. He tossed and turned in his sleep, crying out and breaking out in a sweat.

Olivia stood in her parents' bedroom doorway and watched for a moment. Should she interrupt? What did mom do when dad had nightmares? She made the decision a second later and padded on bare feet into the room, resting a small hand on her father's shoulder. Beast Boy awoke in another cry of fear and sat up, running a hand through his hair and looking at his older daughter.

"I woke you up. I'm sorry, Olivia," he mumbled.

"It's okay, Dad. I'm here," Olivia murmured, getting up on the bed and hugging her father. "Just rest. Everything's okay." Beast Boy smiled softly, lifted his daughter's chin and met her eyes.

"You really are just like your mom," Beast Boy said. "You even talk like she does."

"Thanks, dad," Olivia murmured, resting her head against Beast Boy's shoulder. Toby and Emily appeared at the door a moment later.

"What's wrong?" Toby asked.

"Dad had a bad dream," Olivia replied. Without hesitation, Toby and Emily joined Olivia and snuggled into bed with their father, lulling him finally into a restful sleep.

* * *

The next day dawned chilly, and brought the first light snowfall of the year. Olivia bit her bottom lip and squinted a bit as she scrutinized the quickly cooking pancake in front of her. Auntie Torque had taught her that if she watched carefully, she could flip the pancake at just the right time and not burn the chocolate chips in the batter. Toby, like their father, turned his nose up at chocolate chips, and chocolate in general, but not Olivia. When it had been a rough night, chocolate chip pancakes were a must.

"Did you make some without chocolate?" Toby muttered, still rubbing his eyes as he entered the kitchen. The five transferring Titans had left very early that morning, and with Raven gone, that left the kids to start breakfast.

"Of course we did," Olivia replied, poking her tongue out of the side of her mouth before carefully flipping the flapjack.

"We?" Toby asked.

"Yeah, Jason helped," Olivia replied. Toby scratched his head and peered over toward the table, where Jason was carefully setting plates around. A minute later, as Toby started back toward the door to go and wake their other siblings, Jinx entered the room with a babbling Reese following closely behind her. Jinx carefully picked him up and hushed him. Morning was generally quiet time in Titans Tower. Toby came back into the room with Emily and Caleb, promptly settling his little brother onto a blanket on the floor to allow him to roll around.

"Is dad up yet?" Olivia asked.

"Would you be?" Toby replied.

"Thanks for starting breakfast, guys," said Cyborg as he entered the room.

Though he was awake, the human half of his face reflected a pronounced lack of sleep. Despite tiredness, he took over at the stove and finished the pancakes.

"Didn't you sleep okay, Uncle Cy?" Jason asked.

"I was up for a lot of the night, trying to find your mom. I can't seem to lock in on her communicator signal," Cyborg replied.

"Maybe that bad lady that Toby and Olivia saw shut off or broke it," Jason replied.

"Or maybe mom's hiding and she shut it off to keep the lady from finding her," Toby supposed.

"…Or maybe it's frozen!" Olivia cried, pointing out the window and down to the ground. "Look!"

"It's Raven!" cried Robin, pulling out his communicator. "Beast Boy, get up!"

When Robin, Beast Boy, Toby and Olivia arrived in the yard, Raven was just starting to come around.

"What happened?" Raven murmured. Beast Boy wrapped her cloak around her and swept her up into his arms.

"You're safe now, Raven. You're home, honey," Beast Boy replied, kissing Raven's temple as she relaxed into his embrace. "Olivia, let's go."

"I found something," Olivia replied, examining the ground around a stand of trees. Robin joined her.

"Take Raven inside, I'll stay with the twins," Robin said. Beast Boy nodded and returned to the tower.

"Whatcha got, Hummingbird?" Robin asked as he and Toby joined her.

"Footprints. Should we follow them?" Olivia asked.

"No!" Toby cried.

"What's wrong?" Olivia asked him.

"Someone's out there. Let's just go back to the Tower. We can go looking later," Toby replied. Robin pulled the staff out of his utility belt and stood at the ready.

"Where?" he asked.

"I can just feel it. Someone's watching. Please, Uncle Robin, let's just go back!" Toby begged. The young hero started to shake and fell to his knees. Robin picked him up and carried him as Olivia followed them back to Titans Tower.

Upstairs, Beast Boy settled Raven into their bed and spread an extra blanket over her.

"Do you remember anything?" Beast Boy asked.

"No," Raven murmured. "I'm sure with some rest and a chance to meditate I can remember. I just need time. Are the kids okay? I was so scared for them." Her eyelids were getting heavy as she spoke, and Beast Boy nodded and smoothed her hair back before kissing her forehead and then her lips before tiptoeing toward the door.

"Gar?"

"Yes?"

"Would you…could you please hold me?" Raven whispered. Beast Boy toed his shoes off and slid beneath the covers behind her, winding his arms around her.

"Rest now, sweet Raven. I'm here now," Beast Boy whispered, kissing Raven's ear and the back of her neck as he cuddled against her.

"I don't understand why I can't remember!" Raven whimpered. "The last thing I remember is being hit and then Toby and Olivia screaming. I lost consciousness wondering if I'd ever see them again!"

"Shhhh…they're safe. They even tried to defend you. They did great," Beast Boy replied. "They were afraid that they had failed you."

"Dad?" a voice called from the other side of the door.

"Come in, Olivia," Beast Boy called. Olivia came in carrying a fussing Caleb.

"He's hungry, Dad. Does mom have a bottle for him in the fridge?" Olivia asked. Raven lifted her head.

"Hi, Mom!" Olivia said brightly.

"Bring Caleb here, baby. I'll feed him," Raven replied. Olivia gratefully surrendered her baby brother and then hugged Raven.

"I'm glad you're okay, Mom," Olivia said, turning to leave. When she got to the door, several more small people passed her by in the hall.

"Wait for me!" she cried. "We're on practice mission three-alpha!" Olivia took off running down the hall after Jason and Emily. Beast Boy and Raven shook their heads and smiled.

"They're all growing up so fast!" Raven mused.

"I know. It's hard to believe that the twins are going to be ten in the spring. Starfire and Jinx are both due in February. I'm amazed at how many kids we've got between everyone," Beast Boy remarked as Raven coaxed Caleb to nurse. Caleb's tears dried immediately as he sucked hungrily from Raven's breast.

"You'd have been so proud of Olivia and Toby," Beast Boy continued. "They have both grown up so much."

"I can tell," Raven replied. "We're going to have to let them train harder. They know that Mas and Menos were only 12 when they joined the team."

"That's what scares me. Robin, too. We don't want the kids to jump in too soon. We were thinking that Mas and Menos could come and help us train the kids. Maybe someone younger than their moms and dads would be beneficial," Beast Boy said.

"That brings up another issue. When they're ready to become the Titans, what's going to become of us? We've been crime fighters for so long, I can't imagine what else I'd do with myself," Raven said. "We could go back to Azarath, but now that Trigon isn't an issue anymore, there wouldn't be much to do there."

"I know. Robin said he had an idea, but he was going to have to make some phone calls," Beast Boy replied. Raven nodded.

"I think I'm gonna go join the others in the practice arena if the kids are going to try and tackle that next mission," Beast Boy said, sliding out of the bed.

"Okay," Raven said, leaning up a little in anticipation of another kiss. Instead, Beast Boy simply left the room. A bit baffled, Raven took all this in and turned her attention back to Caleb, who had fallen asleep in her arms. Since he was asleep and her other children were otherwise occupied, Raven rested her head back against the pillow and fell asleep.

* * *

"Hello, you have reached Titans Tower. To whom do you wish to speak?" Starfire said, sounding particularly chipper today.

"Hiya Star! It's Aries!" said the voice on the other end of the line. Starfire's mood immediately plummeted.

"I do not wish to speak with you, and I most certainly do not wish you to speak to Robin. Speedy, Torque, and the others are already on their way to Steel City. Why have you called?" Starfire replied.

"I called to tell you something you really ought to know. I realize that this isn't what you want to hear, but there was more to Robin's and my night together than you think," Aries replied.

"I do not believe you. Robin loves me and I did not need the alcohol to convince him of that," Starfire shot back. Aries barreled ahead.

"What did he tell you? Lemme guess, it was some sob story about how you have his heart and if you leave, you take it with you and without it he'll die," Aries said. Starfire was dumbfounded.

"How do you know all of this?" Starfire demanded.

"I told you. I know more than you think. You should keep better track of your man, Princess," Aries replied, hanging up the phone when Starfire did not speak again. Starfire hung up the phone as Robin walked into the bedroom and kissed her cheek.

"Who was on the phone?" he asked, peeling off his uniform shirt. It was damp with sweat from training with the kids. "You should see Jason with a staff. He's getting really good! Did you know he could fly?" Starfire looked up in surprise.

"Our son has acquired the flight?" Starfire gasped. Robin nodded.

"Can you believe it? He and the other kids are going to make a heck of a team when they get older," Robin replied, walking over and softly kissing Starfire's lips. Starfire momentarily forgot her phone conversation as Robin nudged her toward their bathroom.

"You just got up," he murmured. "Would you care to join me for a shower, Mrs. Grayson?" Starfire smiled and slowly nodded.

"I like that idea, my husband," Starfire whispered. As much as she was firm in her belief that she had Robin's loyalty and love, a very small twinkling inside her wondered if Aries had been right.

* * *

The next morning, as Beast Boy was doing his rounds, his communicator went off. Minutes later, he walked into the kids' school and into the office.

"Is something wrong?" Beast Boy asked. The secretary looked up from her desk, a stern-looking woman with glasses that sat low on her nose.

"Your daughter, Emily, was in a fight on the playground. She's in the counselor's office now. She's not hurt, but she's been inconsolable ever since," the secretary reported.

"My Emily? In a fight?" Beast Boy said softly, signing her out so he could take her home. "Emily won't even defend herself from her siblings, let alone anyone else."

"Well, you're going to have to be the judge of that. You superheroes must know to handle things like that, right?" the secretary snipped. Beast Boy decided to keep his answer as short as hers.

"Thanks, warden," Beast Boy muttered, setting the pen down and leaving the office. From there, he headed to the counselor's office. Still yards from the door, he could hear his little girl sobbing. Mrs. Lee, the school counselor, opened the door a bit when he knocked. When she saw Beast Boy, a note of relief played across her face.

"Thank you for coming," she said, opening the door farther to allow him in. "I've tried to talk to her, but she just won't stop crying. I was about to go and get one of her siblings to help me, but the principal suggested that we call her parents instead.

"Can you tell me what happened?" Beast Boy asked.

"So far as I know, there was a scuffle on the playground. Emily had been petting a wild field mouse in the soccer field and a group of boys came along and killed the mouse. Emily started to scream at them and started to cry. The boys pushed her and kicked dirt at her before a teacher could get to them and break it up. The boys insisted that Emily started it, but we know better. Emily isn't in any trouble, but she's so distraught we thought it best that she go home for the day. She keeps trying to say that the mouse was afraid and didn't want to die, but there's no way she could know that," Mrs. Lee replied.

"She said that?" Beast Boy asked. Mrs. Lee nodded. "I don't know what to make of it."

"Toby and Olivia's powers began to surface at about the same age Emily is now. It could be that her powers are communication with animals," Beast Boy replied. "Would it be all right with you if I took some time to talk to her here before I take her home?"

"Of course. Take all of the time you need," Mrs. Lee said. With this, she left Beast Boy in the softly lit office to speak to his daughter. Beast Boy knelt down on the floor near the bean bag chair that Emily was curled up in and gently went to pick her up. Instinctively, Emily cried out and swung her fist, tagging her father in the shoulder. Beast Boy held on as he tipped backward onto his bottom on the floor, chuckling a bit as Emily realized what she had done. Her eyes grew wide and she covered her mouth with her little hands as she gasped and sat down hard in her father's lap.

"I'm sorry, Daddy!" she gasped. "I didn't mean it! I'm sorry!" Beast Boy was still chuckling.

"You've got a heck of a left hook, sweetie!" Beast Boy teased. Emily cried harder as Beast Boy swept a hand over her little face and brushed away a few strands of hair that had fallen into her face. "Why don't you tell me what happened on the playground. Mrs. Lee told me about the boys and the mouse, but she said that you could understand the mouse's thoughts."

"I did, Daddy! He was so scared! I was petting him nice and he had never trusted people before because they're so big and when the boys came over he panicked and was screaming when they took him away from me! He begged me not to let them kill him! I couldn't do anything! They broke his neck and flung him across the field and then tried to beat me up!" Emily wept, pouring her heart to Beast Boy as he hugged her and rocked her a bit.

"Oh, Emily," he murmured, kissing the side of her head. "It's okay, sweetheart. Your mouse isn't afraid anymore. He's in a place now where no one can hurt him anymore. You did just fine. You tried to tell the boys not to kill him without starting a fight with them. Everything's okay now."

"But, Daddy," Emily whimpered. "Why could I understand him? I knew what he was saying and feeling."

"I think that this is your special power, baby girl. Your powers are that you can communicate with animals," Beast Boy replied. Emily nodded.

"Daddy, can I go home?" Emily whispered. Beast Boy kissed his daughter's forehead and nodded. With this, the two stood, retrieved Emily's school things, and left the school, being sure to leave a note for Olivia and Toby so that they knew that their father had picked Emily up already. Beast Boy carried Emily on his shoulders for a while, and then morphed into a horse, continuing to carry her this way until they reached Titans Tower again, where he tucked a quilt around her as she curled up for an early afternoon nap.

* * *

When Speedy stepped out of the car in Steel City, he took a deep breath of the fresh air. The newer Tower lay before them.

"C'mon, you. We've got unpacking to do," Torque chuckled, getting off her motorcycle and tentatively wrapping his arms around his waist before proceeding inside. When the new members of Titans East entered the building, Torque stopped short and swept Aidan into her arms to keep him from going further into the main room.

"What's wrong, Torque?" asked Mammoth.

"Oh my God," Aqualad gasped, running into the room. On the floor, scattered among broken furniture and crackling bare wires were three of the remaining members of the team. As Aqualad lifted her head and shoulders, Bumblebee opened her eyes.

"When did you guys get here?" she muttered.

"Five minutes ago. Bee, what happened?" Speedy replied. Terra and Torque managed to wake Mas and Menos, but Aries was nowhere to be seen.

"We were ambushed…Some woman…Dark hair, olive complexion, bright green eyes. We'd never seen her before. When she showed up, Aries vanished. Where is Aries?" Bumblebee recalled. Aries wasn't in the Tower. After settling Mas and Menos into the medical bay to recuperate, Torque and Mammoth remained at the Tower to defend it and begin repairs while the others went in search of Aries.

A weary Torque smiled softly as she noticed that Mammoth already had most of the extra furniture that they had brought with them settled into the bedrooms. As much as he hadn't wanted to leave, Torque was certain that he was excited to be there with them anyway. Aidan rushed into his new room and began to pull open the boxes, hardly waiting for his mother as she put away his clothes and toys and made the bed. When this was finished, several hours after she began, Aidan joined Mammoth in the main room where he handed the giant Titan the tools he needed as he repaired various computers and pieces of furniture.

Torque made she and Speedy's bed, sure she'd need it before she finished unpacking and then turned to Speedy's luggage. When she opened it, she stood up, closed her eyes, and pinched the bridge of her nose with her thumb and forefinger as she sighed. Being Speedy's wife had its definite benefits, but one of his only faults lay plainly before her: he was a total slob when it came to packing a suitcase.

Torque shook her head as she began searching through and sorting Speedy's clothes and extra uniforms, using her powers to smooth, stretch and straighten as she went along. In a bunched up pile in one corner of the suitcase, Torque discovered her husband's underwear. Among them was a pair of underwear that she was sure didn't belong to either of them. It was a pair of ladies panties, black with yellow edging. Torque only knew one person that they could belong to and it made her whole body go numb.

"Where did you find those? I thought the washing machine ate them," Bumblebee quipped as she walked into the room.

"Um…I…saw them in the corner in the…laundry room..." Torque fibbed.

"Thanks! They're one of my favorites. Need any help unpackin'?" Bumblebee offered.

"No…no thanks, Bee, I got this," Torque replied. As soon as she left the room, Torque fumbled for the edge of the bed and sat down as she trembled. She had never had reason to suspect that Speedy was being unfaithful to her before. They had such an openly romantic relationship that Torque had been sure that she was keeping Speedy more than happy. What had happened?

Speedy sauntered into the room minutes later and laughed.

"Somehow, I remember that suitcase being neater than that when I packed it. I think we have to talk to Aqualad about his driving skills," Speedy joked, taking Torque's hand and pulling her up and into his embrace. He sighed contentedly.

"I'm so happy I married you. You're so strong, baby. I love you, Ginny," Speedy said, looking sincerely into Torque's eyes. Then he noticed it. "Babe? You're shaking! Are you okay?"

"It was just…the state of everything today. It's just been a long day and I'm getting a little tired," she replied. She had never lied to Speedy before, but this was something she needed to think about. She didn't want to interrogate him or risk losing him.

"Well here, let me put the clothes away. Or mine at the very least. I'm sure you have a place you want to keep certain stuff. I know better than to move anything of yours because it'll disappear," Speedy said. Torque smiled.

"You just lie down here and relax," Speedy said, covering Torque with the quilt that they had received for their wedding. Torque let her head sink into the pillow and her eyelids drooped. She hardly heard Speedy say that he would take care of Aidan so that she could rest until dinner before she fell asleep.


	14. The End of All Things

_**Chapter 14: The End of All Things**_

_A/N: The song BB and Raven sing in the story is "I Know What Love Is" by Celine Dion. _ _**  
**_

A young woman with dark crimson streaks in her hair wept from the prison she was chained into. The skin beneath the shackles was bruised and bleeding from multiple attempts to escape over the past months. The back of her red uniform top was slashed open from the lashings she'd received. Most people would have succumbed to the learned helplessness and faded into oblivion after a year in captivity, but not her. She had been forced to watch the meddlings of her captor and with every passing day…week…month…the prisoner became more and more determined to bring the villainess that held her to justice.

Seconds after she awoke from this exhausted sleep, another figure moved into the room. This woman looked exactly like her in every way. A moment later, there was a ripple of violet light and the woman resumed her original shape: a tall, dark haired woman with an olive complexion. Under normal circumstances, the prisoner might have found this woman to be very pretty, but as this was the tormentor that kept her from her family, this was the ugliest thing in her life.

"Still haven't given up, have you?" the woman purred. "Really, Aries. Isn't it enough that you've caused all of this trouble?"

"You caused this, Calypso! Leave my family alone!" Aries roared hoarsely. Calypso came closer to the cage that separated her from Aries and knelt before it.

"Or what? What will you do about it? Hmm?" Calypso asked, her voice like sweetened honey. "You couldn't stop me from disguising myself as you, and joining the Titans. Your brother was so happy to see me…"

"LEAVE ROY ALONE!" Aries screamed, straining against her chains and letting tears slid down her cheeks.

"You couldn't stop me from sleeping with Robin," Calypso added.

"Stop it!"

"You couldn't stop me from taking Raven and extracting her memories of the night Robin and Starfire fought," Calypso continued. "Her pathetic children could do even less."

"By the time I'm finished, there won't be a team left for you to go to, and when the Titans are gone," she paused for effect. "Two of the largest maximum security prisons holding the world's most dangerous super villains will be mine for hire!" With this, Calypso resumed her shape as Aries and left the room. She would reach Steel City in the morning. Just in time for the next phase of her plan.

* * *

In Jump City, most children were snuggling into their pajamas and falling asleep about now. The Titan children were no different in this respect but tonight was like no night they had ever experienced. First of all, Cyborg had had to rush Jinx into town to the hospital when she started to experience dizziness and a burning in her womb. Fearing for their unborn children, the pair had fled the Tower after dinner. As evening fell and the children tiptoed to bed, their parents could be heard even a whole floor away.

Olivia was awakened by the sound of her mother's voice. Both Beast Boy and Raven were yelling. Though she could only hear bits of the conversation, she knew it was serious.

"What was I supposed to do? We were grocery shopping!" Raven screamed.

"You didn't even sense that she was sneaking up behind you? Our CHILDREN were there, Raven!" Beast Boy replied.

"There were hundreds of people in that area! How was I supposed to know that one was going to come out of nowhere and beat me with a street sign?" Raven shouted back.

"You put them in danger!"

"I what?" Raven screeched. "By virtue of the fact that they are the children of superheroes puts them in danger every day! You never said anything before! Besides! Aren't you the one that told me that they defended themselves and were okay afterward?"

"That's beside the point!"

Olivia crept out of bed and walked softly down the hall. Emily, with Caleb in her arms, met her there, and they both met Toby at the door of his room. Together, they crept further down the hall, where Jason emerged from his bedroom, his eyes still red from tears of fear.

"Mother and dad are fighting. I've never heard them shout like this…" Jason muttered. He joined the group as they continued down the hall. They stopped before the room where Reese slept and Olivia listened. He was fussing, but no one could hear him. Olivia carefully lifted him out of his crib and gave him his pacifier. This quieted him long enough for Olivia to wrap him in his blanket and resume her place at the head of the line. Toby turned and took Caleb from Emily as she grew sleepy again, and the youngsters reached their destination. Olivia concentrated on a panel in the middle of the eighth floor hallway and it opened onto a hidden room that they had discovered playing one day. The three oldest children had established this as 'the fallout shelter', a place where the kids could go and hide when their parents fought. It was soundproof and held sleeping bags, pillows and blankets along with water bottles, flashlights and stuffed animals. Together, the kids arranged themselves in this room by the light of Olivia's flashlight and shut the door. Finally in quiet surroundings and safe from their parents' fearful shouting, the six kids quickly fell asleep again.

"Starfire, what's wrong? Just talk to me!" Robin shouted downstairs.

"If you do not know already, I do not wish to repeat it!" Starfire fired back.

"You've been in this mood ever since you got off the phone this morning! What's going on?" Robin demanded.

"You are still doing the cheating!" Starfire screamed. Robin stopped for a moment, taken aback by her allegation.

"What?" he hissed.

"You heard me! Aries was the one on the telephone this morning. She said that you are still doing the cheating with her!" Starfire shouted, starting to cry.

"Starfire, I told you that I didn't know what I was doing that night! It was ONE NIGHT Starfire!" Robin screamed.

"Then how does she know the things that you said to me?" Starfire demanded. "How does she know about how you cannot live without your heart, which I possess?"

"She can't possibly know that! She wasn't there! Starfire you have to believe me!" Robin shouted.

"How?" she demanded. "How am I to believe you? I cannot prove that you are telling the truth!"

Meanwhile, in Steel City, little Aidan sniffled and wept as he padded down the halls of the East Tower. He was shaking and a little pale, afraid that with Uncle Aqualad and Auntie Terra out on night patrols, there was no one to protect him. His parents were deep in a terrible fight, and he couldn't bury his head under the covers far enough to avoid the sound.

"Aidan? Is that you, buddy?" said a voice. Aidan looked behind him and breathed a sigh of relief. He stumbled into Uncle Mammoth's waiting hands and cried as Mammoth gently held him against his shoulder.

"It's okay, Aidan," he said softly. He could hear Torque and Speedy shouting and decided that Bumblebee must sleep like a brick if she hadn't been awakened by the noise. Mammoth himself was tempted to pound on the couple's door and demand that they take it outside or wait till morning, but he had been commandeered by Aidan first. Mammoth spread a throw blanket over Aidan after placing the little one on the couch. Once Aidan was asleep, Mammoth stationed himself near the couch and kept watch until he too fell asleep again.

* * *

When morning came, Robin discovered that he had missed the sunrise, his favorite part of the day. He had spent the night sleeping on the couch after his spat with Starfire and his back ached from the unaccustomed position he was in. He grumbled a bit and sat up, rubbing the sleep out of his masked eyes. He knew that his was not the only terrible fight that had happened at the Tower that night, and he knew that if Cyborg wasn't up already, he and Jinx were still at the hospital and the situation was worse than they expected. Just as if they had heard him, the phone rang. Cyborg was calling to check in.

"Hey, Robin. You look about as rough as I feel. Look…I've got some bad news," Cyborg reported, pausing as emotion overwhelmed him for a moment. "There was something wrong with the protein enzymes in Jinx's blood. Something about it not matching the triplets' blood. Her body reacted like they were a virus and…aw man…Rob, we've lost two of them…we've lost two of our little girls…"

Robin was suddenly wide awake. "Oh my God," Robin replied. "Cy, I'm so sorry. Is Jinx doing any better?"

"A little. She's beating herself up over this even though she had no control over it. She'd be even better if we could get her to focus on the remaining baby and making sure this one makes it to term," Cyborg replied.

"I understand. Take all the time you need. We'll cover the patrol routes," Robin said. "Oh, hey, is the other triplet a girl?"

"Yeah. We picked out a name for her, too. Her name is Faith. Faith Ehzna Stone," Cyborg answered. Robin acknowledged this and hung up. Robin sat back for a moment to take this in. Suddenly, he didn't feel like his fight with Starfire was the end of the world anymore. Seconds later, the phone rang again. This time, it was Torque. She reported everything that had happened when they arrived in Steel City, making Robin weak in the knees.

"You sound wiped out, Torque. Are you okay?" Robin asked.

"Speedy and I were up all night yelling. It's a long story, but the nutshell is that he left with the others to go looking for Aries this morning and Aidan won't come near me or Speedy. He's been following Mammoth around while he's fixing things in the Tower. You know, the stupid thing is it's quieter now, but the tension around here is still getting to me!" Torque replied, running a hand through her hair.

"Last night here was no better. I haven't even seen any of the kids yet this morning. I wouldn't blame them if they were hiding out somewhere," Robin said. "It was pretty nasty around here."

"You and Star are at it?" Torque asked. Robin explained. Torque sighed.

"That lying little bitch…" she muttered. "…and Star believed her this time. Aw, man. Robin, I'm sorry."

"You couldn't have done anything. Once Star makes up her mind, she's pretty well fixed," Robin replied. "Incidentally, I think BB and Raven's was worse."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. BB left Raven this morning. He left the Tower screaming something about joining you guys in Steel City, so if you get a big green puppy on your doorstep…" Robin said, letting the end of the sentence hang.

"Got it. We'll let him simmer and send him home if he actually gets this far," she replied.

"You don't think he'll do it?" Robin asked.

"Rob, he left Raven. Left her. With their four kids. Beast Boy isn't stupid. He worked too hard to get Raven and to keep her to just let it all go on a temper tantrum," Torque explained. "Like I said. We'll let him simmer for a few hours, come to his senses and we'll send him home." Robin chuckled a bit. "Okay. Thanks, Torque." Robin added. "Robin out."

Robin looked around the room and slowly got up. It was time for the kids to be up and around, but in the time since he'd awakened, none of them had appeared. Robin made his way to Jason's bedroom, but found it empty. Confused, he went to Toby's room, and then Olivia's. Nothing. Robin pulled his communicator out of his belt and woke Starfire and Raven. There was something wrong. When the two arrived, Robin explained first what he had been told by Torque and Cyborg. Then, he told them that he couldn't find the kids.

"What did they do the last time they were afraid? They got together and they locked themselves in Jason's bedroom. They're older now, so they must have found somewhere else in the Tower to hide," Raven rationalized.

"Right. But where do we start?" Robin asked.

"With them," Raven replied, assuming her meditation position. Taking a deep breath, she muttered her magic words and gingerly sought out her older daughter's mind.

"Olivia…"

Several floors away, Olivia blinked her eyes open and looked at her watch. It was late. She turned on the flashlight, half expecting to see her mother there to kiss her good morning. She ascertained the rest of her companions and then lay back down against her pillow, leaving the flashlight on. She felt strange, but she couldn't figure out why. Minutes later, the door to their secret annex slid open and Starfire, Raven, and Robin knelt among them.

"Hi, mom," said Olivia, hugging Raven.

"I hope you aren't mad at us," Toby murmured.

"We heard everyone shouting and we didn't know what else to do," Jason added.

"We couldn't sleep, Mommy," Emily continued.

"We understand that, guys, but you need to understand that running away and hiding isn't going to make the fighting stop," Robin explained.

"Yes it did," Olivia insisted. "You aren't fighting now. You had to stop fighting to find us."

"That's true, but it only adds to our stress when we can't find our children. We love you, and we want all of you to be safe. We can't be sure of that unless we know where you are," Raven replied.

"Come. It is time for the breaking of the fast. You must all be hungry, yes?" asked Starfire.

"What's wrong, Mother?" Jason asked, rising to his feet with her.

"Perhaps your father will explain that to you later," Starfire said, giving Robin a chilly look as she led the way out of the hiding place.

* * *

When Cyborg opened his eyes that morning, he knew that his batteries were dangerously low, but he refused to leave. He looked up and Jinx was awake and she was smiling at him, lightly stroking his head with her smooth hand.

"Hi," he murmured.

"Good morning," she replied.

"How are you feeling?" he asked. She took a deep breath and said, "Better. I think we're finally out of the woods."

"Good. I was worried about you for a while there," Cyborg replied.

"I'm worried about you. You should go home," Jinx insisted.

"I won't leave without you," Cyborg said softly.

"We're fine. The medications will keep the proteins in line and I'm feeling better every minute," Jinx countered.

"The baby…"

"She's fine. She's kicked me twice already this morning. She's a tough little cookie," Jinx said, lightly patting her middle.

"Veronica…you've been through so much I just…I can't…" Cyborg argued, resorting to the use of his wife's real name.

"Victor," she replied in kind. "I'm fine. I'll be okay for a few hours while you go home and switch batteries. Besides, Faith here isn't our only child, or have you forgotten Reese already?" She grinned at this last gentle ribbing. Cyborg smiled. It was true. In his distress over Jinx, he had completely forgotten that they had left Reese at home in Robin and Starfire's care. This time, Jinx had him.

"All right. I'll go," he conceded. "But if something happens…"

"You'll be the first one to know, teddy bear," Jinx teased. Cyborg stood, kissed Jinx soundly on the lips, then kissed her belly. Hesitating for a moment, he kissed Jinx again for good measure and smiled as she giggled and batted his shoulder.

"Go home!" she laughed. "It's going to be okay now."

* * *

Back at the Tower, breakfast had been completed in near silence, and Olivia had retreated to the roof to meditate. She hovered in the air now, just as her mother had taught her, but her concentration was not on her focus words. A tear forced its way out of her eyes and down her cheeks. She knew what had happened that night. She knew that Robin and Starfire weren't talking. She knew that her father had run away from home and that Uncle Speedy was in deep trouble. Another tear squeezed out from under her eyelids and fell to the roof below her.

"Olivia?" a voice called. She turned in the air.

"What are you doing here, Jason?" she asked, wiping a tear.

"What's wrong?" Jason asked, crossing the roof and assuming the same position before her.

"You learned flight awfully fast," she muttered.

"Mother says it comes naturally to Tamaranians," Jason replied softly. "But because I'm also half human, it took me a little longer to fly. But that doesn't answer my question."

"Nothing," Olivia mumbled.

"I don't believe you," Jason replied, searching her eyes.

"When stuff like this happens, I'm supposed to be strong. I'm supposed to be there for mom and dad, be there for Emily. Toby and I talk a lot but he handles feelings and stuff pretty much by himself. I have to…I have to be strong for mom right now…" Olivia replied, faltering at last into tears. Jason glided closer and hugged Olivia.

"That's too much, Livie," Jason said, still holding her. "Mother says that we shouldn't try to be responsible for fixing the adults' problems."

"But I'm mom's helper!" she wept. "I'm dad's little hero! I have to be stronger than this!"

"No, Livie," Jason insisted. "You're hurting and I don't like that. Please let some of it go."

"I can't…"

"Then let me help you," Jason said, bringing his hands to Olivia's heart and cupping the air before it. Cautiously, he brought this little bit of captured air back to himself and pressed it to his own chest.

"There. I took some of the worry for you," Jason said. "Mother taught me that. If you give some of the worry or pain to someone else, it hurts less."

"Thank you," Olivia murmured, her eyes shining with the remains of her tears. Jason, feeling rather bold, leaned forward and lightly kissed Olivia's cheek. She immediately raised a hand and pressed her fingers to the spot he kissed.

"The tear…there was still a tear…." Jason explained. With this, he went back inside, leaving Olivia to resume her meditation. As much as part of her thought Jason's method of sharing the weight of her worries was childish, she did notice that she was feeling much better.

* * *

Robin sank into a chair in the kitchen and Raven handed him a steaming mug of peppermint tea.

"Thanks," he said softly, inhaling the warm scent. Raven seemed pensive for a moment and then she spoke.

"Has anyone noticed that we're all fighting all at once?" Raven asked.

"What do you mean?" asked Robin.

"I mean, when there's a spat between a couple it's usually just them that are arguing. Last night everyone on the team had some reason to be upset or angry," Raven explained.

"That did seem strange," Robin said. "Do you think there's a connection?"

"Yes," Raven replied. "Who's wrecking your marriage right now?"

"Aries."

"Who vanished from the East Tower when they were ambushed?"

"Aries."

"Think about it. We don't know who this mysterious brunette is, Robin. She could be working with Aries to break us all up. It makes us vulnerable," Raven continued.

"In that case, we need to put ourselves back together," Robin said with determination.

"Let me talk to Starfire. She'll listen to me," Raven offered. Robin nodded.

"Thanks, Raven. I owe you one," Robin said. Raven smiled.

"I know," Raven said, standing up and walking toward the door. "You owe me several so far." She turned her head and threw Robin a ravishing smile before she left the room. Robin had to laugh. Maybe things were starting to work out after all.

* * *

Beast Boy stretched and groaned. His whole body ached from sleeping on the cold, hard ground in one of his animal forms instead of at home with his arms around Raven. He stood up wearily and blinked at the late morning sun. It was Saturday. The kids usually woke he and Raven on Saturday by jumping on their bed. Thinking of his children made Beast Boy's heart ache. He was still a bit angry, but now more at himself. Having had the time to think about it, Raven had been right. She couldn't possibly have sheltered their little ones any more than she did. But now here he was. Dare he go back to Titans Tower? He had left her with the intention of never coming back.

"How could I be that stupid! I didn't just leave her—I left everyone! My friends, even my kids! But she'd never take me back…" Beast Boy mused out loud. "Or would she…I broke my vows to her, but it doesn't mean that she broke hers…"

Instead of making his way farther east, Beast Boy morphed into a hawk and went west, homeward bound as fast as he possibly could.

Upon entering Titans Tower, Robin and Starfire were nowhere to be found, but Beast Boy heard a piano playing upstairs, and there was only one person in his life that could play that well: Raven. Beast Boy grabbed his guitar off the stand in the living area and made his way to the music room.

The song was one she had played time and time again. Starfire had sung this song at she and Beast Boy's wedding.

"_I was forgotten  
Until you called my name  
Lost in the shadows  
Until you shined your light my way  
Now I believe again  
In all my dreams again  
wide eyed and innocent  
Those doubting days  
Are so far away and oh_

_I will fall  
And you will catch me always  
Time has taught me this  
I will fly  
And you'll be there to guide me  
Straight up to my heart's highest wish  
I feel you close to me  
And I know what love is"_

As she played, Beast Boy listened, waiting for just the right time to come in with her. After she finished the refrain, he came into the room and started the second verse, singing and playing with her.

"_Now there's no mountain  
Too high for me to climb  
No ocean so wide  
That I could not reach the other side  
Now I believe in me  
Cause you live and breathe in me  
nothing can come between  
We are one star  
No night can darken, Oh_

_I will fall  
And you will catch me always  
Time has taught me this  
I will fly  
And you'll be there to guide me  
Straight up to my heart's highest wish  
I feel you close to me  
And I know what love is"  
_

The second refrain closed and now both husband and wife soared into the bridge, the piano broadening and the guitar growing more powerful.

"_It's an unspoken thing  
A quiet opening  
There are no words that can go that deep  
But I know  
I know_

_I will fall  
And you will catch me always  
Time has taught me this  
I will fly  
And you'll be there to guide me  
Straight up to my heart's highest wish  
I feel you close to me  
And I know what love is"_

The song ended and Raven finally turned around, facing her husband as he set his guitar gingerly on the table.

"What are you doing here?" she asked softly. She was afraid if she spoke any louder her true feelings would show and she'd begin to cry.

"Raven…Can you ever forgive me? Baby, I was so stu--"

Beast Boy didn't get to finish his sentence because Raven launched herself across the room and into his arms, kissing him soundly. Beast Boy held her fast, letting a tear escape his eye. She pulled back almost a minute later.

"You promised you'd never break my heart," she said as she gasped for breath.

"I know. I don't know what came over me. I was so angry about the kids being in danger and that you were gone and then suddenly back and you couldn't remember anything…" Beast Boy replied. "I lost sight of what I was truly angry about: myself. Raven, the kids were upset because they thought they failed you. They didn't fail you, I did. I didn't want to go shopping that day so I wasn't there to save you and defend the kids. I wasn't there to save you from whoever took you from me. I guess I just feel like it's my job as your husband to be there to protect you." Raven kissed him again and stroked his face, lightly tracing the edges of his ear as well.

"You didn't fail me, Gar. You had about as much control over all of this as any of us, which was none at all. I love you," she replied, bringing his eyes to meet hers. "I love you, and I never want to go through another two days like this again. It's been hell here without y--" Unable to resist anymore, Beast Boy and Raven locked lips again and clutched one another close.

On the other side of the door, Olivia and Toby listened to what was going on inside the music room.

"Are they fighting again?" Toby asked.

"Mom just moaned…I don't know…" Olivia said. Robin came upon this scene and chuckled.

"What are you two up to?" he asked.

"Dad came home. He and mom are in there," Toby answered. Intrigued, Robin listened in himself.

"Do you think they're still fighting?" Olivia asked, biting her lip. Robin laughed softly.

"No, kids. That sound means that your mom and dad are going to be just fine," Robin replied. Why don't you guys go play?" Olivia and Toby nodded, retreating to the rec room.

Robin returned to he and Starfire's bedroom, gently crawling back beneath the covers to pull Starfire close. She was still smiling in her sleep, sated from the results of their own reconciliation. Robin chuckled to think that both couples had decided that a little alone time was exactly what they needed. Robin had had to be very careful with Star this time. Tamaranian gestation periods are a month short of human ones, so Starfire was very close to her due date. But for all the extra precautions they had had to take, it was well worth it. Robin fell asleep again, drifting off with the comforting scent of Starfire's hair relaxing him into a restful nap.

* * *

By the time lunch was finished, Cyborg brought Jinx home and Titans Tower was once again buzzing with activity.

"Titans East, come in!" Robin called over the communications relay. After several seconds, Bumblebee's face appeared on the screen.

"Sorry, guys. I thought Speedy was supposed to be on switchboard this morning, but from the sounds of it, he and Torque are at it again," Bumblebee replied. "What's up?"

"We have an idea of what might be happening here. Is your whole team home?" Robin replied.

"All present and accounted for!" she chimed proudly. "Even Mas and Menos are back up and running…literally." Robin and Cyborg laughed.

"Have you found Aries yet?" asked Raven, carrying Caleb with her.

"No. I was gonna send Mammoth out with the prince and princess this morning, but apparently, the royalty got to sleep in," Bumblebee teased.

"Well deserved rest, I'm sure," Robin chuckled. "We think there may be a connection between Aries and these blow outs all of us seem to be having all at once. Do you have any idea what it is that's going on between Speedy and Torque?"

"I don't know how this happened, but she managed to find some incriminating evidence in Speedy's luggage," Bumblebee hinted.

"She thinks he's cheating on her?" Beast Boy said in disbelief.

"Yeah…with me of all people…" Bumblebee muttered, rubbing her sore temple with a tired hand.

"We're on our way. We're going to get to the bottom of this, once and for all," Robin said. "Titans West out."

* * *

Mammoth, despite his size, seemed to enjoy the simplest things: a good meal, good company, playing with the kids, a good sparring match. Today, the chill of winter threatening in the steel gray skies, Mammoth was lying in a pile of leaves, watching with patient humor as Aidan tossed the fragile, crackling material up into the air and subsequently over him. The cool breeze felt good as it blew through his long hair and over his face. He could hear Aidan giggling and the crunch of the leaves as he ran about the yard.

"Don't go too far, Aidan," Mammoth called, returning his gaze to the clouds and then closing his eyes.

"I won't!" Aidan cried, continuing to run. Off in the shadows, Aidan thought he saw something. He stopped and a form melted out from behind the trees. Aidan gasped and ran to the familiar person he found there.

"What happened, Auntie Aries?" Aidan asked, running to her and throwing his arms around her.

"It was terrible, Aidan. I just barely escaped," Calypso whispered, having assumed Aries form.

"I need you to listen to me, honey," she said, kneeling down in front of Aidan. "Something terrible is about to happen. You'll be okay if you come with me right now. The others can defend themselves, but you're in danger. Come with me, Aidan."

"But, my mommy and daddy!" Aidan whimpered softly.

"They'll make it. They'll be right behind us! But you need to come with me. Hurry!" Calypso said, picking Aidan up as he opened his arms for her to lift him. Aidan cried quiet tears as he watched his new home diminish behind them. He hoped that Auntie Aries had been right and his parents would be safe.

Calypso stopped when they had gone some distance from the Tower and changed her grip on Aidan to free one of her hands. She extended it toward where they had come and seconds later, Mammoth roared in pain.

"What happened?" Aidan squealed.

"It's starting…we have to hurry!" she replied.

"I'm scared, Auntie!" he wept. Calypso only hugged him closer and vanished into the noonday air.

* * *

Mammoth rolled off the leaf pile and roared in agony again. A wide knife was stuck in his gut and blood seeped quickly around it and down onto the ground.

"Mammoth!" screamed Terra as she and the others came running.

"What happened?" demanded Bumblebee.

"Came….out of nowhere…" Mammoth mumbled.

"Where's Aidan?" Speedy cried, his heart starting to pound. After Bumblebee had explained Robin and Raven's theory, he and Torque had quickly made up. It was a good thing, too. They now had something far more difficult to face.

"I…he was right….here…." Mammoth replied.

"Save your strength," said Bumblebee. "Mas! Menos!" Bumblebee sent the three back to the Tower and then she turned to the others.

"Aidan!" Torque screamed into the empty yard. Her voice echoed off the cliffs on the other side of the Tower, and off the large stand of trees before them. "Aidan Alexander Harper, you come out this instant!" When no response came, her heartbeat doubled.

"Roy…" she murmured, taking a step back.

"I know…" he said.

"I'm not waiting for the others," Torque growled. "Let's go!"

"Calm down, Torque," Bumblebee said.

"You're not going to do Aidan any good by being like this," Aqualad replied. Torque bowed her head.

"Maybe you're right," she replied. Speedy took hold of her hand and then wrapped the other arm around her as Torque leaned into his chest.

"What's happened?" Robin's voice cried as he leapt down out of the T-Ship.

"We'll explain back at the Tower. Let's go," cried Bumblebee. Terra used her powers to lift her teammates and transport them back to the East Tower with the T-Ship following close behind.

* * *

"You're trying to tell me that Aries is the one responsible for all of this?" Bumblebee said an hour later.

"I don't believe any of it," Speedy growled. "My sister isn't capable of this!"

"We also thought she wasn't capable of knowingly seducing a married man," Robin replied, ignoring the gasps of the members of the team that didn't already know.

"I think something we haven't already considered here is that maybe it isn't Aries," Terra added.

"¿Qué usted significa?" Mas and Menos asked simultaneously.

"Yeah, what do you mean, honey?" Aqualad asked.

"Well, all I'm saying is that no one would know her better than Roy. If he says she's not capable of it, she probably isn't. We could be dealing with someone impersonating her in order to get to us," Terra explained.

"A shape-shifter!" Raven cried. "Why didn't I think of that one?"

"Even geniuses can't think of everything," Terra said, winking across the table at Raven.

"That still leaves us as square one. We don't even know where to start looking," Cyborg stated.

"Sure we do," Bumblebee smiled. "She's wearing Aries' uniform. She's got Aries' communicator."

"We can trace the signal and…"

"BOOYAH!" Cyborg shouted, interrupting Aqualad. "I got her, people, let's move!"

* * *

"Auntie, where are we? I didn't know you could disappear like that," Aidan said as Calypso set him on his feet. She ignored him, turning up the lights on the rest of the vast main room of the complex. When the light shined on her again, Aidan gasped.

"Who are you? Where's Auntie Aries?" he cried. Calypso took several steps in his direction and Aidan stumbled back, finally tripping and landing on his bottom. He looked up at the unfamiliar woman before him.

"I am the one you have been calling Auntie Aries," she replied in a mocking tone. "I'll show you your real Aunt Aries, but I can't promise you'll like what you find."

"Give me my Auntie!" Aidan shouted, his little hands balled into fists.

"As you wish," Calypso replied, throwing the switch on the lights over the cage. Aidan was speechless. There was his Aunt, chained and beaten, when in his mind he had just seen her well less than an hour before. Aries looked up with swollen eyes and softly gasped.

"What have you done?" Aries demanded, her voice cracked with exhaustion.

"Auntie!" Aidan cried, running to the cage. He stood before it and turned around. Calypso was coming after him.

"Stay away!" Aidan shouted. He could feel his body tingling; his blood boiling with panic and anger. Calypso ignored him and continued to come closer.

"STAY AWAY!" Aidan screamed. He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth praying for all the strength to save his beloved aunt. No sooner had the words left Aidan's mouth, but the room started to shake. The tremor broke several sections of the ceiling loose, bringing them down around them. Aidan ducked and scooted into the cage by squeezing between the bars. Calypso laughed.

"Very impressive, little one. I'll bet you didn't even know you could do that, did you?" she purred.

"Yes I did!" Aidan lied. "And…and there's more where that came from!" Calypso laughed harder as she strode across the room to a computer screen. Aidan had had enough.

"Let my Auntie and me go!" he screeched.

"Why? Just minutes from now I will have what I want. The Titans are falling apart at the seams. Poor boy, you don't seem to realize what a serious predicament you are really in," Calypso replied smoothly.

"Aidan," Aries mumbled. "Listen to me. I know you don't know how to control your power, but just this once, I want you to get angry."

"Why?" Aidan murmured.

"You got angry and the room shook. Get angrier and it may just get us out of here," she replied. Aidan refocused his gaze on Calypso. He remembered his parents fighting. He remembered Uncle Mammoth screaming in pain. He remembered fear…he remembered seeing Auntie Aries all chained up and hurting….

The room started to tremble—

Then the room started to shake—

Then objects on the walls and ceiling began to shudder and fall—

"It's working!" Aries jerked on her chains and they pulled free of the crumbling walls. She wrapped her arms around Aidan as more debris fell around them. Aidan screamed with the unrestrained intensity of his newfound power and held his temples, tears streaming down his little face.

Far above them, the Titans were flying in overhead, using the T-Ship to track the signal.

"There's something wrong!" Cyborg cried. "The signal is fading in and out!"

"I'm feeling tremors! Something's making that whole building shake!" Terra shouted.

"Split up! Bumblebee, you take half the team and search for Aries and Aidan. The rest of us will take on whoever is behind all this!" Robin cried.

"TITANS! TOGETHER!"

Calypso wasn't prepared for what she saw. Not even close. She gasped in shock when the roof of the complex turned blinding white and was ripped off completely. Seconds later, nine Titans bore down on the villainess inside. Beast Boy ducked his head and moments later, he was 20 feet tall, roaring as a T-Rex. Robin, Torque, Speedy, and Cyborg were poised on the ground, gritting their teeth in determination as Raven, Terra, Bumblebee and Aqualad hovered in the air.

"Give it up. You've lost," Robin growled.

"I haven't lost, my pet," Calypso called, rearing back and then projecting her voice across the litter strewn battlefield. The male members of the Titans crumbled, falling to their knees and crawling across the floor toward Calypso as if hypnotized by her voice.

"Titans! Attack!" Bumblebee bellowed, following as Raven and Terra soared past her. The room was still shaking, Aidan's fear manifesting itself through the trembling of the surrounding walls. Terra took pieces of the debris that had fallen around them and hurled them, narrowly missing Calypso as she dodged the projectiles and laughed. Calypso used her telekinesis and extended her hand toward Terra and the earthen Titan fell from the rock she was hovering on.

"Terra!" Raven shouted, using her own powers to hoist her friend back up onto the rock she controlled.

"Thanks for the lift!" Terra shouted back. Raven dipped in around Terra and rained broken shards of glass and lexan over the villain. Calypso fired back, stopping the shards and turning them on her. Raven threw a shield around herself but this distraction allowed Calypso to fire a disruption charge, throwing Raven across the room. When Calypso did this, she stopped her hypnotic song and the guys snapped out of their trance. Before she could catch herself, Raven made contact with something soft. She hit the ground in the clutches of a giant green kangaroo.

"Hi, honey," Beast Boy said, morphing back into a man and pecking his wife on the cheek.

"I always knew you'd catch me when I fell," she replied, soaring off again. Torque and Speedy plunged forward on Torque's motorcycle and provided the next leg of the assault with Robin running along side of them. Speedy leaned out from behind his wife and extended his bow arm. The arrow struck near Calypso's feet and froze her to the ground. Calypso shot a disruption charge again, this time, Speedy didn't have time to shoot. Torque laid the motorcycle over, effectively dodging the shockwave, but as Speedy jumped from the bike, Torque was pinned beneath it. She slid along with the bike and into the wall. Robin swept into the scene and took Calypso hand to hand.

"Come now, Robin," she growled. "You can't possibly hurt the woman you love!"

"The woman I love is at home with my children. Besides," he said with a sly grin. "You weren't that great." Enraged, Calypso sang again and the guys grabbed their ears. Bumblebee and Beast Boy teamed up, both insect sized and stung the villainess into silence again. Calypso whirled on them, swatting them both in one fell swoop.

As Bumblebee and Beast Boy tumbled through the air, Robin was back up, using his staff to combat the agile villainess. She surprised Robin four moves into the fight and swept his feet out from under him. She had a clear shot now, and she had his staff. She swung the weapon in the air and brought it down on her helpless victim.

CRACK!

"I…said…to leave…my…family…ALONE!" growled Aries, holding a staff of her own made from a loose piece of the electrical piping. She pressed this weapon against Calypso's, meeting her enemy nose to nose.

"In what world could a weakling like you ever defeat me?" Calypso sneered.

"You have nowhere to hide, Calypso," Aries replied. "Give it up."

"Another day perhaps. For now, keep your sniveling family—for all the good it will do you," Calypso said, vanishing in a wisp of violet smoke.

With this, Aidan came out of his hiding place.

"Daddy!" he cried, running full tilt into Speedy's arms.

"My son!" Speedy cried spontaneously. He swept Aidan up into his arms and hugged him, kissing the top of his head over and over.

"I saved Auntie Aries!" he squealed. Torque, who had pried herself from the wreckage of her beloved motorcycle, rejoined the group and took her turn to hold her only child close.

"He did save me….he was great…" Aries said weakly. With this, Aries dropped her weapon and blacked out, hitting the ground as her teammates and family gasped and cried out in surprise. Speedy moved to his sister's side, knowing finally that this was really her, and swept her up into his arms.

"Let's go home," Speedy said simply.

* * *

_ A/N: One more chapter to go! Then it's the end of the book! Can you believe it? Thank you all so much to those of you who have been reading with me from the beginnings! Can you believe you've been with me nearly 400 pages of text? THANK YOU!_


	15. Aries' Journal

_**Chapter 15: Aries' Journal**_

After her rescue from Calypso, Aries slept off and on for nearly a week. Speedy feared for a while that she might not recover from the captivity she had been subjected to, but when he and Torque awoke to breakfast smells in the kitchen, they began to wonder. Bumblebee couldn't cook to save her life, and Aqualad was too preoccupied with Terra to even try. When the two approached the kitchen, they heard giggling noises and the sound of food being prepared. They looked into the room and Aries was there, teaching Aidan how to make waffles. Speedy stood back and bowed his head, lifting a hand to cover his eyes for a moment. Torque looked up and spied tears in her husband's eyes.

"What's wrong, honey?" she whispered.

"I've never been so happy—everyone I love the most is right here in this room," Speedy replied. Torque turned Speedy's chin to meet her face and kissed him before she urged him into the kitchen with her. By the time the other Titans awoke, there was a stack of fluffy, golden waffles and plenty of syrup to go around. As the group began to fill their plates and sit down, Terra and Aqualad joined them.

"I told you, I'm fine!" Terra said comfortingly.

"But…you said…" Aqualad stammered. For a man who never lacked something to say, Aqualad was speechless. This made the team wary. What was going on?

"It's not like I'm terminally ill," Terra continued. The team released the breath it had been collectively holding.

"I'm pregnant."

Mas dropped his plate and Menos caught it, both just as slack-jawed as the rest of the team.

"Boy…it got awfully quiet in here all of a sudden…" Terra said, blush spreading over her fair complexion. Then came the flood of questions.

"Are you okay?"

"How long have you known?"

"When are you due?"

"Congrats!"

"Felicitaciones!"

"I hope this team is ready to handle the two of us, Terra," Torque added, putting her hand on the blonde's shoulder. The team fell silent again. It was Speedy's turn to drop a plate. Mammoth caught it despite the bandaging that still encircled his torso. Terra and Torque looked at each other for a few seconds and then suddenly squealed, throwing their arms around each other. The team was in an uproar again.

"They're both pregnant?"

"Mierda santa!"

"Watch it! There are kids in this Tower!" cried Speedy, swinging Torque in a circle.

"Call the other team! We've gotta tell them the great news!" cried Aqualad.

"I hate to remind you, fish lips, but they're still in bed. It's hours earlier there!" Speedy replied.

"Wake 'em up, twinkle toes. This is cause for celebration!" Aqualad shot back.

* * *

_February 15, _

_Dear Diary, I'll be going to visit Titans West to help out because Starfire and Jinx are so near to their due dates. It's so hard to believe I've been a Titan for three months! I'll write again as soon as I can! Love, Ariadne_

"I'm here!" Aries chimed, lifted the sunglasses off the bridge of her nose and setting them on her head. She stepped inside the door of the West Tower and looked around. She stopped to examine several pictures of the families hanging on the walls and suddenly felt something hard pressed into the small of her back.

"Freeze," said a voice. Aries did as she was told, setting her luggage down on the floor. "Good. Now turn around slowly and lie down on the floor, face down." said another voice. Aries smirked.

"Two against one is a little unfair, isn't it?" Aries asked.

"Follow directions!" the first voice ordered. Aries slowly turned but unexpectedly lashed out, grabbing the weapon out of the second attacker's hands and pulling him under her arm. Now she had the upper hand.

"No. You follow directions. If you so much as twitch the redhead gets it," Aries replied, holding the muzzle of the large, reservoir-fed squirt gun against Jason's chest. "Give up. I've got you and you know it."

Olivia dropped her own weapon dejectedly and pulled a walkie-talkie out of her pocket.

"Stand down. Mission is a failure. Target not acquired," she grumbled.

"Your first mistake was asking me to turn around," Aries told her. She hugged Jason and then released him.

"Your second mistake," she said, waiting until all three kids—Toby had been crouched behind a chair—were watching. "…was not securing your weapons after a mission." With this, Aries used the squirt gun on them, laughing as they screeched and retaliated.

* * *

Upstairs, Jinx rested on the bed she shared with Cyborg. Lightly, she ran her hand over her belly, quietly nervous about her baby's impending birth.

"What's wrong?" Cyborg asked, coming into the room.

"I'm just nervous is all. When Reese was born it nearly killed me," Jinx murmured.

"I know you're scared but I know a certain someone who told me that everything was going to be all right now," Cyborg smiled. Jinx returned his grin.

"You're right. It's going to be just fine," Jinx replied. Cyborg bent slowly over and ran his hand through her hair, gently stroking her face with his thumb before he kissed her.

"I love you, Mrs. Stone," Cyborg whispered, pulling a blanket up over Jinx as she fell asleep. She smiled, and Cyborg was content. He exited the room, only to be impeded by a squealing, giggling, and getting very heavy Reese attaching himself to Cyborg's leg. Right behind him, Emily and Jason struggled to keep up with him.

"I thought you were telepathic!" Jason grumbled to his companion.

"That's just with animals, you dork!" she retorted.

"Don't call me a dork!" Jason cried, a starbolt developing in his hand. "Dr. Doolittle!"

"Don't call me that!" Emily screeched. "The kids at school call me that!"

"Dr. Doolittle! Dr. Doolittle!" Jason teased, taking off down the hall. Emily took off running after him. Cyborg shook his head and looked down at his son, who continued to laugh and rock against him. Cyborg picked Reese up and held him. Every inch of his still infant son reminded him of himself at that age.

"I suppose it's gonna be up to you and me to pry them two apart if it starts to get ugly," Cyborg said to Reese as he walked down the hall. Reese simply let out a thrilled baby shriek and laughed. For the next several seconds, Cyborg could still hear Jason and Emily shouting as they ran down the hall and then abruptly it stopped.

"MOTHER!"

Jason's voice was still echoing in the hall as Cyborg began to run to catch up to them.

"Mother! Get up! What's wrong?" Jason cried, taking hold of his mother's hand and panicking.

"I was walking back toward the bedroom to lie down," Starfire replied. "I was so overcome by pain that I could no longer stand." Tears began to fall from her eyes as Robin heard the commotion and came running.

"Starfire!"

"Take her to the med bay, I'll get the others," Cyborg said, handing baby Reese off to Emily. Cyborg located Raven and soon, a similar scene as had taken place before was forming around the med bay. Several times in the past, the boys had suffered outside in the hall while the girls took care of things inside the med bay.

Jason paced nervously as Robin, Cyborg and Beast Boy sat or stood in the hall with the kids.

"You're gonna wear a hole in the floor, Jason," Beast Boy teased.

"Dad, is Mother going to be okay?" Jason asked, worry making his bright green eyes seem duller.

"Of course she is, son," Robin said, pulling Jason into his arms and hugging him. "This is a natural thing. Having a baby hurts."

"Did it hurt Mother like this when I was born?" Jason gasped. The guys laughed.

"I think it's time we had a long talk with the three oldest kids," Beast Boy surmised. "The twins asked us the whole 'where do babies come from' bit a few nights ago. We managed to hold them off for now, but we really ought to give them an answer."

Raven emerged from the med bay, sweat trickling from her temples, but a smile on her face and a bundle in her arms.

"Congratulations, Robin," she said. "Come over here." Robin did as he was told, guiding Jason along with him. At Raven's prompting, Robin opened his arms and she nestled the bundle into his embrace.

"Ten fingers, ten toes, and nine stomachs…Robin, meet your daughter," Raven teased. "Star named her Rosemary Luand'r." Robin was entranced.

"That's the name we decided on for her. My god…" Robin murmured. "She looks like me…" The other Titans closed in as Raven tiptoed back into the med bay to check on Starfire. Sure enough, baby Rosemary had her father's dark hair and vivid blue eyes. The guys took turns holding tiny Rosemary and then she was passed to her big brother for the first time.

"She's so small, Dad!" Jason said with a smile. "Was she really all curled up inside Mother all this time?" Robin nodded with a laugh of his own. "Why don't you come with me and we'll take her back to Mother. We should go in and see how she's doing," Robin suggested. Jason stood up slowly and meandered after his father, carrying his baby sister as if she were a trove of precious jewels.

"Hey, beautiful," Robin murmured, kissing Starfire when they approached the bed. "I'm so proud of you."

"We have our daughter, Robin," Starfire replied, opening her eyes weakly. Jason rose into the air and sat down on the edge of the bed, gingerly handing the baby back to Starfire.

"What do you think of your new sister, Jason?" Starfire asked her son.

"I think she's perfect, Mother," Jason replied.

As the others left the room to give them privacy, Aries shed a tear.

"What's wrong, Aries?" Jinx asked, having made her way to the med bay when she heard that Starfire had give birth.

"I've never seen a baby being born before," Aries replied. "It was beautiful, and Star was such a trooper. Now I know why they say that birth is such a miracle."

* * *

_Dear Diary, _

_Little Rosie is now several months old and Star has returned to active duty. I enjoyed my stay with Titans West, but Steel City will always be my home. I can't wait for Torque and Terra to have their babies. Aqualad swears they are having a boy, but Terra told him not to hold his breath. With so many new superheroes in the rising generation, the next few years are bound to be interesting! Until later! _

_Ariadne Cheyenne Harper _

_**THE END**_


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